In October 2007 at an U13 festival Newbury RUFC donated a sum of money in Harry's memory. It was decided by the coaching team of the u13s to use this to fund replicas of Harry's distinctive socks (black & white hooped) with his initials on the back which the Marlow Merlins would then wear throughout their time at Marlow RUFC in his memory.On Sunday 3rd February the Marlow Merlins pulled on their socks for the first time to play in the Bucks Plate semi-final against Aylesbury. The socks proved lucky and the team played one of their best matches of the season, going on to win a decisive victory ; 32-0.
The special framed plaque was unveiled featuring photos of Harry in action together with a pair of the socks and takes pride of place alongside a framed picture of one of his rugby heroes – Matt Dawson
Richard thanked both Clubs for their generosity, saying that Harry had loved playing rugby for Marlow and that he hoped his spirit would live on through the team and bring them luck. He & Judi also showed the assembled crowd the original pair of Harry’s muddy socks!
Special thanks go to Newbury RUFC for their generosity, John Watson & Marlow RUFC for their organisation, Graeme Kempson for the idea, Dave & Helen Walker for arranging the plaque, and of course the Marlow Merlins.
Marlow RUFC: Harry’s Socks Presentation
John Watson's Tribute
Good Afternoon everyone.
Firstly, I would like to welcome all of our special guests here today. We have of course Harry’s family, Richard and Judi, George, Jenny and Marie. Also a special welcome to Richard’s Mum and Dad
We also have Mark Foster Youth Director from Newbury Rugby Club. Welcome. More of them later.
I am also delighted that we are joined by Peter trunkfield, Former President of the RFU, our Chairman, Gwyn Stone, our Youth Chairman Debbie Loveday and our Mini’s Chairman Mike Simmonds. Welcome.
We are here today for two purposes, both of course in memory of Harry and both of course to ensure that we continue to remember Harry.
Firstly, we will discuss socks and then we will unveil a photograph of Harry as a lasting memory to him in the Clubhouse.
At the start of this season we ran a small U13s tournament. We ran the tournament in Harry’s memory and invited Clubs that we were friendly with. Newbury came along and of course they won all of the trophies – and these were presented to Newbury by Richard and Judi. Newbury were also very generous. They had collected £400 at their Club and brought it as a donation to Harry’s charities. A very kind and generous donation that touched many of us. Thank you.
At that time, we were also seeking to create a lasting tribute to Harry. Graeme Kempson reminded us that Harry always wore a unique pair of socks – the traditional Black and White hoops. I believe that they were hand-me-downs from George. Seeing these socks always reminded Graeme of Harry. So, with Richard and Judi’s permission, we used the £400 to purchase socks with Harry’s initials on the back and our age group will always wear these socks throughout our time at Marlow, in memory of Harry. The sales of the socks to our age group and to anyone else who wishes to buy a pair, will ensure that Newbury’s initial investment will be paid to Harry’s charities plus a healthy surplus will be added.
Today, we wore Harry’s socks for the first time – and won!. It was a moving moment to pull on these socks. Every time we play a game, as we pull on our socks we will think of Harry. And if anyone asks who’s HM, we can explain that he was the best player in the Under 12’s: he was very fast, had great vision and skills, but most of all was so full of fun to be with and always enjoyed the game.
So, thank you Newbury. Also I would like to thank Graeme Kempson and David and Helen Walker for all their hard work in having the socks made and also making the photograph of Harry for hanging in the Club.
What I would like to do now is ask Richard and Judi to kindly give a pair of socks to to mark Foster from Newbury and then unveil the photograph.
No comments:
Post a Comment