Sevenoaks Rugby announce new 1st XV Captain
May
Sevenoaks Rugby Club is pleased to announce the appointment of Tim Golds as 1st XV captain for the 2008/09 season.
Golds, 27, joined the club in 2006 and quickly made his mark as a tough-tackling centre and an indispensable member of the 1st XV. Although relatively new to the club, he follows a great family tradition. Both his father and grandfather played for the club and his grandfather was captain in the 1930s. He takes over from George Roffey, who stands down after more than four seasons in the job.
Golds, who in his professional life arranges bespoke safaris to wild regions of Tanzania, is relishing the challenge ahead. “Taking over as captain of Sevenoaks is a great privilege”, he said. “My role as captain starts now and there is a lot of hard work to be done before next season.”
He draws encouragement from the morale among the players which, despite the disappointing results last season, has remained high. “Everyone was ‘hurt’ by last year’s outcome and we are all really committed to do something about it. As a new captain, to have the commitment of the players is all you can ask for. Our morale has always been great and I now want to transfer this motivation into improving our performance, both individually and as a team.”
Much of the credit for the team’s high morale goes to outgoing captain Roffey, who Golds acknowledges as “one of the best captains and most inspirational leaders Sevenoaks Rugby Club has ever had.” Roffey was the longest-serving captain in the club’s history and led the side to promotion in 2006.
Assessing the challenge ahead, Golds said, “Sometimes you have to take a step backwards before you can move forward. Last year has given us a wake up call and we’ve now got a great opportunity, with a new coaching structure combined with the home grown talent within the squad, to re-build and step forward. But we’ve talked the talk for a while and we all know that now it’s time to commit to the hard yards.”
“Winning matters”, he said, “and I am keen to get the desire to win back into every Sevenoaks player’s head.”
