Rugby Club ISSUE 87 | Page 39

Mill Hill Malcolm Maycock recently spoke to Rugby Club Magazine about his long and positive association with Mill Hill Rugby Club, saying, “I was invited down to the club by a family friend, David Wildman, in the 1978/79 season. Having never played rugby I enjoyed a steep learning curve both on and off the pitch. I played for the club for approximately ten years at 2nd row with occasional appearances at No8, my playing career finishing due to a neck injury and subsequent operation. “The club throughout my playing career ran six sides and I tried to ensure that each season I played for each team captain. After my accident I took up coaching and helped reinstate a Colts side, along with JC, all of us skilfully managed and manipulated by the infamous Dolly. Those Colts are now in their 40’s, to watch them grow and develop mainly from non-players has been a real pleasure. They still reminisce about their exploits, horrendous defeats, a few victories and their 1st international tour to Venice, thankfully social media was yet to be invented. Tours have provided many of my standout moments in the club and taken me across Europe to Germany, Holland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Malta, Portugal and many trips to France and UK destinations. My journey over the seasons with the club has taken me from playing to coaching, to refereeing, the journey never seems to end as the excellent social side continues with lifelong friends who I meet regularly for Golf. The club allows us to run a golf society and the annual Cyder Cup, Mill Hill RFC v Mill Hill Village (footballers and cricketers) is still a social magnet. I can honestly say that I can’t thank the club and its members enough for the positive influence they have had on my life - teaching me many valuable lessons and skills and although I don’t get down there as often as I would like I always commit to the VP days as the club honoured me by making me one and its always important for to me to see my friends regularly. Mill Hill is a fantastic family club with a great ethos and as a business we have sponsored them for over fifteen years now. We are always keen to support the club in any way we can, my business partner Mark, an ex player and Good Luck Mill Hill RFC Marketing Manager Mike Reed, ex player and club captain so Mill Hill is never far away from our thoughts. Rugby is very much about participation, inclusion and camaraderie allowing everyone to have the best possible experience within an atmosphere of mutual respect. Mill Hill Rugby Club do all of this very well and provide a great service to our local community, for which we are both humbled and extremely proud to be associated. We all wish them the very best of continued success for many more seasons to come!” “This is my fourth season as club captain at Mill Hill RFC; I play as an openside flanker and have been with the club for ten years now and have sponsored them for the last three. The success at the club has been brought on by the coaching staff stepping it up and focusing on promotion and pushing the playing side of the club forward. The club has always been known for having a big pack but has really improved the basic fitness levels of the players and as long as we stick together we can meet the challenges ahead of us. Everywhere you go in the world to play rugby as soon as you step onto that field you instantly make fourteen friends who always have your back and I would say once you join Mill Hill you are very unlikely to want to leave!” Jack Bryne www.rugbyclubmag.com 39