Updates from Club Champions January 2021

With the announcement of the third national lockdown, it is easy to become bogged down it what feels like Groundhog Day. But there is reason to be cautiously optimistic and with each new day we slowly move towards “normal’’.

For us at Club Champions the news is bittersweet. We are a business born out of lockdown, as the slower pace of life in March finally gave us the time to plan, prepare and begin this journey properly which has brought us to where we are now. And whilst, this new lockdown could be seen to be holding us back as grassroots sports are once again put on the backburner, we are choosing to use these next coming weeks to grow and set goals, so we are even better prepared.

One exciting announcement we can make is that Lancashire RFU are our newest partners! This partnership will allow any Lancashire affiliated rugby club to become squad members of Club Champions free of charge, courtesy of Lancs RFU! We are really looking forward to working with you all in Lancashire!

Live Kindly, Live Loudly – Ruby

During the first lockdown ex-pro rugby player and Club Champions advisory group member, Tom May, ran 150miles in 6 days to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Tom met a young girl named Ruby Fuller, who at 17 years of age, was diagnosed with T-Cell lymphoblastic non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. This later morphed into leukaemia and sadly Ruby passed away in May 2020.

Unfortunately, there is no successful treatment for this type of cancer yet, so her family have set up a fund “Live Kindly Live Loudly” to try and change this.

The efforts of so many, including Tom, now means that the fundraiser has reached the initial target of £50,000 with the total currently sitting at £53,862. This incredible effort will undoubtedly help the fight against this awful disease. But it does not stop there, the Fuller’s are hoping the fundraiser will reach £100,000 over the next few years, with everything that 2020 taught us, health must be the priority.

So, if you find yourself with extra time during this new lockdown, we encourage you to watch the video, read Ruby’s story and donate if you can.

Sporting News:

Harlequins are #OceanReady with their latest kit launch

Whilst it might seem strange to see the south west London club associating itself with the ocean, this unlikely partnership comes from their latest kit launch with Adidas. Before you ask, no its not swimming trunks, (although this would be interesting) it is that their new kit is made from recycled ocean plastic. Harlequins are the first club in the Gallagher Premiership to make a deal of this kind and it sets a clear example of where the club want to be with sustainability.

Harlequins CEO Laurie Dalrymple states that “as a club, we are striving to become more sustainable and we have begun to transform our energy management, waste and recycling programmes in particular’’ and acknowledges that “within sport we have the ability to positively impact the world around us and change lives for the better.’’ Anybody receiving this newsletter will agree that sport has the power to be transformative and we think it is incredibly powerful to align sport and climate action.

There is a revolution coming, people are no longer accepting consumption in the same way we did even 5 years ago. There is a consciousness surrounding what goes into the things we buy and the impact this has on our planet. And like all revolutions, with it comes opportunity. Harlequins have seized an opportunity to get ahead of their peers in the race to become less harmful and with that comes great PR. Harlequins can leverage this as a branding tool which sets them apart from their competitors. Investing in Environment Social and Governance standards is a big trend in business now and it should apply to sport too; is not only important but essential to determine survival, and Quins are winning the race thus far.

We do wonder however whether this is a classic case of green washing, this is the third kit and both the home and away kit do not meet the same sustainability standards. Do our pro clubs need to take more responsibility for the number of products they put out? Or is that asking too much? Harlequins reported a £4.8m loss in 2018 and given the current climate it is likely to be much greater this year.

Whatever side of the fence you fall on, Quins have made a statement with Adidas, a powerhouse in the sporting industry, that they are moving forward for change.

Inspirations from the Squad:

Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 45. Mental health, the unspoken pandemic.

According to the mental health charity CALM, a shocking 76% of suicides are men whilst 54% of teenage boys who had experienced mental health problems said they simply ‘put a brave face on it’ rather than seeking help (Lancaster University, The Looking Glass). As organisations that work in community sport, we have un-parallelled access to these men and teens but too often the stigma surrounding mental health prevents us from talking about it.

This, however, is changing. Many clubs are organising outreach programmes to provide support for their members. One of the programmes we wish to highlight is from our Club Champions members, Welwyn Rugby Club.

Welwyn founded JOCA, ‘just one click away’, back in June 2016 and the need for a service like this is growing daily. JOCA has volunteers that provide counselling to the recipient at no cost and within hours of the person asking for support. As they say ‘no cost, no questions asked, no barrier to access and no waiting list’ an incredible solution to a severely underfunded problem.

According to Welwyn’s most recent update ‘’In four years JOCA has supported 115 people – not all of whom have been at the point of the extreme but all of whom have made the very difficult but extremely brave decision to reach out to ask for help.’’

They are now urging other clubs in Hertfordshire to join JOCA or create their own equivalent service.

We support Welwyn and encourage all sports clubs to create something similar. Sports like rugby have a reputation for being macho and insensitive, but we know that this is not the truth, lets change the stereotype and help save more young people in crisis.

‘Just one click away’

Curry night cooked by a chef and delivered by the first team…

We are seeing some great examples of innovation from our squad members around ways to generate revenue and one club we wanted to highlight is Sevenoaks Rugby Club. Back in November, Sevenoaks, ran a curry night, cooked freshly by the club chef Diane Carey, and delivered directly to club members’ doorsteps by a member of the senior playing squad.

A takeaway on the weekend is probably the most fun we can have right now and knowing you are getting a delicious curry whilst helping your local rugby club seems like a win-win. Their club members must have agreed as they sold around 130 curries at £10 a head! This not only created revenue for the club but also kept their members feeling involved and valued!

Seen and Heard:

Last year we saw some great partnerships being formed across all sports from the grassroots game to the elite. As most of our community sports clubs are feeling the pinch, we thought we would share our favourite innovative partnerships from the last year.

In third place…

In August we saw St Albans City FC partner with Rock Band Enter Shikari. Enter Shikari are now the football club’s principal shirt sponsor. The band grew up in Hertfordshire and the lead singer Chris Batten states that when he was younger, he was ‘passionate about two things, music and football’. This interesting pairing demonstrates the importance of prioritising a ‘positive outlet for people’. St Albans City also has a community outreach programme that interested the band as they wanted to help secure the future of young people in their community. This partnership unites sport and culture to work towards a common goal and we think it is a great example of finding a joint vehicle to create social impact.

In second place…

The next deal we wanted to highlight is Norwich City’s partnership with War Paint. War Paint is a men’s make up brand trying to change the conversation around men wearing makeup. It is widely accepted that women of all ages can wear makeup without judgement which allows those who suffer from skin conditions like acne or psoriasis a way to cover up and feel more confident. This, however, is often not the case for young men. War Paint’s goal is to end the stigma of boys wearing makeup to increase confidence. Norwich City FC also understands the importance confidence can have on the life of young males and the stigma surrounding mental health. This partnership demonstrates an unlikely, but clever, union, prioritising change for good in the sporting world and shows how aligning a sports club with a brand that looks to improve things can be as lucrative as any other.

And finally, our favourite partnership of the year…

Australia Cricket and Dettol! If ever there has been an example of capitalising on the present, this is it! One industry that boomed last year and will continue to boom this year, is hygiene products. Demand for Dettol products had grown by 62% globally by June 2020 and with the new strain spreading quicker than ever we do not imagine this has slowed down.

Cricket found itself with a new problem when the pandemic hit, as it was no longer acceptable to clean their balls with spit, as the potential implications for the health of the teams became apparent. Dettol saw an opportunity to work with Cricket Australia to help find a solution to this problem making the partnership even more appealing to the rights holder. This partnership could unlock a whole new audience for Dettol as they seek to influence cricket fans in Australia. Our key takeaway from this is that when it seems everyone is down and out, there is always opportunity and some businesses will still thrive!

If you are interested in joining us on a free Club Champions webinar to find out more and to hear from clubs and counties that we currently work with please register your interest with This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or contact our co-founder Roger McKerlie on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.