{"id":1544,"date":"2021-02-19T15:58:50","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T15:58:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/?p=1544"},"modified":"2021-02-19T15:59:02","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T15:59:02","slug":"anniversary-of-the-last-kent-rugby-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/2021\/02\/19\/anniversary-of-the-last-kent-rugby-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Anniversary of the last Kent rugby game"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Next weekend, grassroots rugby players will be teased by England\u2019s clash against Wales in the Six Nations tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watching their beloved game be played on an international stage, amateur rugby players have received little news from the Rugby Football Union about how they might slowly get back to playing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Lat years Wales-England game. Credit: GulliversTravels<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sittingbourne Rugby Club played their last game on the 29th<\/sup> of February 2020, against local rivals Sheppey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a brief period between lockdowns, Sittingbourne started training again and allowed themselves to hope they might play a game this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But their hopes were dashed as the second lockdown was announced in November, and the third lockdown was the final nail in the coffin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now facing the anniversary of Sittingbourne\u2019s last game, head coach Gary Miller has tried to keep spirits up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Gary became head coach in May 2020.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been tougher this time around.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gary said: \u201cWe all got back into the rugby and put so much time into planning sessions and were looking forward to potentially playing, and then to have it all taken away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just trying to keep motivated and looking for that light at the end of the tunnel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gary hopes for a quick return to rugby this year but is preparing for a more realistic outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe should be preparing now for a long pre-season and getting ready for the 2021\/2022 season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Sittingbourne in February 2020, almost socially distancing. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Emma Elgar, Sittingbourne\u2019s physiotherapist, has worked hard during the past year to keep players fitness levels up and prepare for a short notice return to rugby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She set up a \u2018Quarantine Fitness\u2019 WhatsApp group and set exercise challenges to keep the team motivated, but a year later motivation has started dipping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we were allowed to start fitness training in the summer, everyone was all so excited to see each other,\u201d Emma said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was literally like herding cats, I had to keep the lads in small boxes and disinfect all our equipment to follow the RFU\u2019s restrictions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emma said: \u201cthis time around in the third lockdown, you lose sight of where you\u2019re going because we haven\u2019t seen each other for a very long time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s such buzz around the changing rooms before a game, and in the bar after the game, that\u2019s what we all miss the most.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emma and members of the club are continuing with their fitness routines, with some falling off and others just starting as work and family commitments change over the past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Sittingbourne’s 5th XV back in 1985. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The physio is optimistic for the eventual return for rugby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just trying to keep the end in sight, this will pass and we will be back, we just don\u2019t know the timelines at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, Boris Johnson will update the nation about a possible easing of restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just maybe, Sittingbourne\u2019s community might finally have some good news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Next weekend, grassroots rugby players will be teased by England\u2019s clash against Wales in the Six Nations tournament. Watching their beloved game be played on an international stage, amateur rugby players have received little news from the Rugby Football Union…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[]},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1544"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1544"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1556,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1544\/revisions\/1556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}