Scoreboards/Equipment

Last season we built a scoreboard for our NW Counties 13-15's Cup Finals, which, whilst we were pleased with it, was only considered (well okay mainly by myself) as an interim thing until we could gain something bigger and better. Having been to the Stobart Stadium on Sunday for the SponsorBank Lancashire Cup Finals and seen what they have I was wondering if any other clubs had ever built their own "electronic" scoreboard and if so what had been involved and at what cost??

Personally, for certain items, I would like to see a set of pooled/shared resources which could be used for Finals & Festivals etc ... I'm thinking, temporary stands, crowd barriers, scoreboards, PA Systems, "big screens", video equipment, flagpoles, banners etc which could be shared at a minimal cover cost by all Clubs/Leagues rather than us all being fleeced by the professional hire companies. Yes it's an ambitious list but why not aim for the stars??

Many Pro Clubs regularly update their existing facilities, why can't we approach them and hope they'll work with us to raise the image of the game by selling us their older equipment at cost??

A united approach as a sport from top to bottom could make us the envy of other amateur games and help increase participation .... will never know 'til we try!!!

Sam, Excellent idea.

I wonder if this could be done through barla, and made available to all member/associate leagues for a minimal cost.
we all know they've got a few quid in the bank!

A joint BARLA/RFL project would be superb & could be very beneficial to the amateur game as a a whole and again could promote a partnership.

Use the RFL's connections with the Pro Clubs, where they could possibly call in a few favours or, alternativey, use their contacts on a National level to seek a high profile sponsorship to facilitate it and then allow/assist BARLA, at a grassroots level, to provide someone with suitable skills to manage it .... not rocket science is it but would certainly make us the envy of others!

Just an example of how we can all, with a little forethought use equipment to our advantage, here's how we promoted our own NW Counties 13-15's league at the Sponsorbank Lancashire Cup Finals. I wanted a flag to use at events such as Finals etc .... and, well, let's just say I aimed big!! 28ft x 28ft big!!

Mind you a flag that size does present it's own problems, finding a flagpole big enough to fly it has presented some for starters .... apparently the Civil Aviation Authority fear it could present a problem to low flying aircraft!!

Anyway,c'mon ... let's all be ambitious!!!


(Thanks to Jackie Clowes for the picture)

Sam Armstrong wrote:Just an example of how we can all, with a little forethought use equipment to our advantage, here's how we promoted our own NW Counties 13-15's league at the Sponsorbank Lancashire Cup Finals. I wanted a flag to use at events such as Finals etc .... and, well, let's just say I aimed big!! 28ft x 28ft big!!

Mind you a flag that size does present it's own problems, finding a flagpole big enough to fly it has presented some for starters .... apparently the Civil Aviation Authority fear it could present a problem to low flying aircraft!!

Anyway,c'mon ... let's all be ambitious!!!


(Thanks to Jackie Clowes for the picture)

You could always use it as a spare duvet

OFF FOR A SNOOZE

mick doyle wrote:You could always use it as a spare duvet

OFF FOR A SNOOZE

What's a duvet? Ahhh .... Is it that thing you were tucked up under 'til late on Sunday morning??

15 all ... your serve .... "new balls please"!!


Anyway let's not detract from what the thread was meant to be about ... promoting the game and making these big days a better experience for all concerned.

Sam Armstrong wrote:

mick doyle wrote:You could always use it as a spare duvet

OFF FOR A SNOOZE

What's a duvet? Ahhh .... Is it that thing you were tucked up under 'til late on Sunday morning??

15 all ... your serve .... "new balls please"!!


Anyway let's not detract from what the thread was meant to be about ... promoting the game and making these big days a better experience for all concerned.

Like booking your finals day the same day as ours having prevously being told of our date.

GAME SET AND MATCH

now now ladies....

mick doyle wrote:Like booking your finals day the same day as ours having prevously being told of our date.

GAME SET AND MATCH

Last year, if you recall, we moved ours forward to accomodate and ended up having to finish the league season early and incomplete. We therefore needed to, and indeed did, book the 26th April for this year the day after last year's finals as other weeks were already starting to be booked up at Golborne by other events such as a bikers weekend.

Playing competitive fixtures we will always need to seek to maximise the length of the season and so the last weekend in April will, wherever we can, be booked. Sorry but c'est la vie.

Well until Summer Rugby comes around anyway!!!

getting back to the subject, could this idea be raised at community board level and proposed?

Apart from an electronic scoreboard, what other specialist equipment is used to help create an atmosphear?

In no particular order ....

Mobile Trailer Grandstand ...



Mobile Big Screen ...


Public Address System ...


Small Stage/Trusses ...


Sky Dancers ...


Ok, like I said, ambitious locally/regionally but are they when we are looking at a national resource for the amateur game??

The other thing to bear in mind with all of the above is that they could all quite easily be graphically decorated with the necessary splash logos to promote BARLA, RFL & the sport as a whole.

Imagine the coverage they'd get as they moved around the country, particularly as they pass through areas not normally synonomous with our game and the governing bodies. Get contact details and websites on there and the game could p[otentially expand ... who doesn't want that?

Sam Armstrong wrote:In no particular order ....

Mobile Trailer Grandstand ...



Mobile Big Screen ...


Public Address System ...


Small Stage/Trusses ...


Sky Dancers ...


Ok, like I said, ambitious locally/regionally but are they when we are looking at a national resource for the amateur game??

Sam you forgot the kitchen sink

Hi Sam, I Have got connections if you need a price for a electronic Score board as like Featherstone Rovers one that they update as the game goes on etc via a Lap Top

Not been to Post Office Road/Lionheart Stadium for a couple of seasons .. guess they must've got rid of the old manual scoreboard at the top of the brew then??? Get some details/pics Fev ... no harm in getting prices etc!!

Thanks to Fev Lion for getting back to me today with additional info regarding scoreboards etc.

What surprises (and disappoints) me is that there seems to be so much apparent apathy from the amateur game. We surely all want to promote our game, clubs and players and yet feedback on here seems to be almost down to three or four of us with a little bit of ambition and aspiration. The majority, unfortunately, seem happy to merely "plod on" or watch while others try to improve the game.

We are quick to whinge when we get minimal or no coverage of our great game and yet when we try to raise it's profile, and thereby hopefully increase the number of participants, we don't want to get involved. Are there truly clubs out there who are doing so well that they don't need increased participation, revenue or promotion of their clubs ... because if there are then you need to share this winning formula with the rest of us!!!!

We have an opportunity here to share knowledge & facilities which could make us the envy of other sports and cement our club's roles within the community and yet very few seem to wish to grasp this chance. I know if I was a club official reading this, as a representative of that club and players, I would be ashamed to not join in the discussion as I would feel I was not truly representing their best interests.

I'm not asking for a bunch of sycophants merely nodding in unison but instead am looking for people to offer ideas, let us know contacts who may be able to help, share experiences, point out where we may be going wrong and offer alternatives and help us truly make the amateur rugby league the nation's amateur sports benchmark with our shared facilities and resources.

C'mon get off your butts and show you care!!!!!

Sam Armstrong wrote:Thanks to Fev Lion for getting back to me today with additional info regarding scoreboards etc.

What surprises (and disappoints) me is that there seems to be so much apparent apathy from the amateur game. We surely all want to promote our game, clubs and players and yet feedback on here seems to be almost down to three or four of us with a little bit of ambition and aspiration. The majority, unfortunately, seem happy to merely "plod on" or watch while others try to improve the game.

We are quick to whinge when we get minimal or no coverage of our great game and yet when we try to raise it's profile, and thereby hopefully increase the number of participants, we don't want to get involved. Are there truly clubs out there who are doing so well that they don't need increased participation, revenue or promotion of their clubs ... because if there are then you need to share this winning formula with the rest of us!!!!

We have an opportunity here to share knowledge & facilities which could make us the envy of other sports and cement our club's roles within the community and yet very few seem to wish to grasp this chance. I know if I was a club official reading this, as a representative of that club and players, I would be ashamed to not join in the discussion as I would feel I was not truly representing their best interests.

I'm not asking for a bunch of sycophants merely nodding in unison but instead am looking for people to offer ideas, let us know contacts who may be able to help, share experiences, point out where we may be going wrong and offer alternatives and help us truly make the amateur rugby league the nation's amateur sports benchmark with our shared facilities and resources.

C'mon get off your butts and show you care!!!!!

best post I've read since shadowman

deserved a thread of its own Sam...

Thanks Bri ... I know I may go a bit OTT but I do genuinely believe in what I am asking for and just wish that the powers that be would seek to invest some of the BARLA funds in protecting and developing our own clubs instead of tours to far off places which sadly benefit very very few of the vast majority of BARLA players.

It would be nice to get a response from some of the Board members to hear their views on what we'd like to put together for all - are there some funds available? Do they think it is a good idea? Are they prepared to argue the case for it from within or am I just banging my head against a brick wall trying to help promote the Association when they possibly won't help themselves???

playing devil's advocate here for a moment Sam,

I'm sure Mick has said that the tours are self funded and BARLA do not pay for them.

Also would it be fair to say that representative Rugby is there for all players to aspire to?

surely that ambition needs to be there?

Isn't having the BARLA GB side touring places around the world helping to promote the sport?

Admin wrote:I'm sure Mick has said that the tours are self funded and BARLA do not pay for them.

If they are 100% self-funded then fine, and I apologise, but why not put some of the BARLA £'000's to good use over here then if the tours are of no cost to them?

Admin wrote:Also would it be fair to say that representative Rugby is there for all players to aspire to? surely that ambition needs to be there?

But what about all the age-groups who get no opportunity to tour yet make up the majority of BARLA's membership i.e. the kids ... should something not be being done for them ... if we carry on with little interest we'll rapidly start to lose greater numbers to other sports ... let's get 'em young, let's make the games feel extra special and let's retain them here at home!!

Admin wrote:Isn't having the BARLA GB side touring places around the world helping to promote the sport?

Yes, but in these times of economic downturn is a tour to the far side of the Pacific the best place to tour?

Why not develop Belgium, Germany, Holland etc ... places that are comparatively on our doorstep and may be able to develop to the point that they can host our regular club players on club tours too? How many clubs from the UK will be visiting the Lebanon, Tonga, Western Samoa and Fiji in the foreseeable future? These Pacific rim nations are far closer to our Antipodean friends ... let them help out there!!!

We need to develop interest here ... for a 10/11 year old, a tour potentially 8-10 years in the future is not what they need at this stage of their development and therfore doesn't help them or their struggling clubs.

To all those individuals and clubs out there who seem content with their lot I am putting together a new guaranteed idea for fundraising for you which will require no more than the normal minimal amount of effort from you all .....



Chould be a sure-fire winner with the amount of apathy displayed (or not as the case may be) on here!!!

But, hey-ho, I dare say, when all's said and done, none of you really care anyway!!!

Sam,

maybe many of the clubs are content with what they have coming in, or maybe its more to do with people feeling that they do enough already and anything involving raising extra money, getting involved with the affinity group etc, seems interesting, but too much like hard work...

or maybe the word isn't getting through to the right people?

But Lee there are nearly 200 people registered as users of this forum ... there has got to be more than a couple of us wanting to improve things!!! Can't believe that things are so good they can't see any need to improve or develop.