Freeport Rugby Club forging a Comeback

Freeport Rugby Club forging a Comeback

30 Jan 2023 | Rugby

One of Grand Bahama’s oldest sporting clubs, Freeport Rugby Football Club (FRFC), is now back in action after a low profile due to hurricanes and the pandemic.Club President Rob Speller is excited about the new season fixtures and in a recent interview with Grand Bahama News,said, “Freeport has a young aggressive team and will be challenging our old rivals, the Nassau Buccaneers, and other teams, for the Bahamas Rugby Cup with the first match to be held here in March.”Formed in 1965 by the late Chris Cafferata, school teacher John Lively and others, the club property was a popular venue for various sporting and social events and used to host an annual Easter Festival Rugby Tournament with visiting clubs from all over the world. In the late 1970’s, members of the New York Cosmos soccer team were frequent visitors with world-famous payers like Chinaglia, Alberto and Beckenbauer holding their off-season training camps at the club and playing friendly matches against Freeport on a couple of occasions in 1979.Donnie Knowles is one former sportsman with vivid memories of those times.“I was the Freeport goalie and I managed to save a few but I will never forget Franz Beckenbauer slamming a ball into the back of the net, just missing taking my head off,” he said.“I think we lost 12-0 that time.”Even Pelé, recognized as the world’s greatest soccer player, was supposed to come to Freeport but was called back to represent his home team Santos.The Youth International Rugby Festival was formed 13 years ago, catering to junior players and consisting of teams from Freeport, Nassau, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and the USA. Over the years, hundreds of youngsters from all of the named countries battled it out on the field and made lifelong friends during the after-match celebrations.FRFC celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015 with a special party and banquet on the field and many of the former members flew in from all over the world to the event.Hurricane Matthew tore the roof off the clubhouse and blew the storage shed over the fence into the YMCA in 2016, then the whole field and club apartment was flooded by Hurricane Dorian in 2019. During the cleanup after Dorian, the club was used as the base of operations for the Rubicon Disaster Relief Team, a nonprofit US-based organization whose volunteers are all US military veterans, to assist in the rip-outs and build back of all the flooded residential houses in Freeport.Then came the virtual shutdown of just about everything when COVID arrived six months later.Despite the recent difficulties, the club still managed to keep up a training schedule for its players. Five members, Justin Lewis, Treyvon Henfield, Spencer Graham, Marcus Gouthro and Michael Watkins were selected from Freeport to play for The Bahamas National 7’s team at the Rugby American North Tournament in Mexico City last November.Grand Bahama Rugby Coach, Nigel Kirkby, traveled with them and said, “Despite the fact that they haven’t been able to play against other teams for so long, the lads did really well and I was proud of their aggressive and sporting spirit.”In December, the Miami Tridents Rugby Team, who is presently celebrating its 50th anniversary season, came over on the recently introduced Margaritaville At Sea cruise ship for a friendly match, which was combined with a celebration cocktail party designed to attract new Freeport rugby members. The social game was a fiercely fought affair with the gracious Freeport team submitting to a loss at the hands of a very talented touring side who happen to boast being state champions for the past five years.A number of fixtures are planned for this year to be hosted by Freeport and Nassau and hopefully more foreign touring teams will be added to the programs later in the season.The Freeport Youth Festival is once again scheduled to take place in Freeport this year on May 13 and 14. - Dave MellorPhoto: FRFC’s Michael Watson leaps up as he scores a try against Buccaneers during their Heineken Cup match Saturday, January 4, 2020 at the Freeport Rugby Club. Credit: Timmy "Muscles" Aylen
Membership Cocktail Party 2022-23: December 16th, 2022

Membership Cocktail Party 2022-23: December 16th, 2022

7 Dec 2022 | Events

Dear All,Just a quick update to let everyone know our Membership Cocktail Party will be held on Friday, December 16th from 7 pm.More than ever The Club relies on the memberships and the fundraising we do to keep the lights on and all our junior and senior programs going so please come along for a few drinks on The Club and pay your memberships fees for the 2022/23 season.MEMBERSHIP COCKTAIL PARTY THE FREEPORT RUGBY & FOOTBALL CLUB FRIDAY DECEMBER 16TH FROM 7 PM TO 10 PMVICE-PRESIDENT $200.00pa (Polo Shirt included)FAMILY FEES $175.00paPLAYING / FULL FEES $125.00paSOCIAL / JUNIOR $50.00paIn the meantime, all our programs are operating with good numbers and continue to provide a safe and productive environment for all the kids.RegardsRob Speller President
Club Updates October 2022

Club Updates October 2022

8 Oct 2022 | Events

Dear All,It’s been a while and we hope everyone is well and we wanted to briefly update everyone on The Club and our activities – SATURDAY (Today) Freeport Inter Squad (junior and senior) players having a scrimmage4.30pm onwardsBar will be OPEN so please pass by  All our programs are up and running and these are – Senior Soccer – Monday and Wednesday 6.30pmSenior Rugby – Tuesday, Thursday and SaturdaysJunior Rugby – Saturday Mornings 10.00am Junior Soccer – Saturday Mornings at 11.30am We are now collecting Memberships for the 2022/23 season and please find below the membership form. We will soon be letting everyone know the date for the Membership Party but in the meantime if you can join we would be most grateful. After a trying couple of years EVERY cent we collect goes directly into running and programs and the upkeep of The Club. Please contact me if you have any questions. Look forward to seeing everyone soon. Regards Rob SpellerPresident
Happenings at The Club, February 2022

Happenings at The Club, February 2022

4 Feb 2022 | Odds and Ends

Dear All,Just wanted to update everyone on what is happening at The Club. For once we can say that we are moving in the right direction!All our programs are happening with Junior Soccer going great guns. On Saturday mornings both our Senior Rugby and Soccer Programs are seeing good numbers and increasing every week, which is great to see. We even managed to have our first full Soccer game against the YMCA on Sunday, so great stuff by our coaches for all our programs.Of course, we rely on donations, memberships, and goodwill to keep the Club going, so we would welcome anyone who wishes to join for the 2021/22 season. Please let me know how you would like to join by contacting us. We have new Polo Shirts which are available to purchase or included in our $200 VP membership and memberships start from $50. Any and all donations are welcome. We will ensure every dollar given to us will be used in the right way as we intend to keep the doors open and offer as many programs as we can.Look forward to finally having some games at The Club in the coming months. We hope everyone stays safe and healthy in these trying times.Rob Speller President

Help Keep The Freeport Football Rugby Club Operational

23 Feb 2021 | Odds and Ends

Dear All,We hope this email finds you all well and safe in these extraordinary times.Obviously, the onset of the pandemic has meant that The Club has been closed since March 2020 and we have only just started some social distancing training with the older rugby girls/boys and the older soccer guys. We are slowly starting our programs where we are permitted under Government protocols and we will endeavor to provide our kid's programs as soon as possible. Currently, we aim to start the junior soccer program on Saturday, February 27th, 2021 and will send out a separate email to confirm this and the protocols we will follow.As with all these situations, The Club still has bills to pay and expenses to keep the facility operational. To this end, we would like to offer the opportunity for members and patrons to join the Clubs membership for the current 2020 / 2021 season. We understand that last season wasn't finished, and the start of this season has been delayed so we have made allowances for that in the playing memberships. We still hope to have our annual cocktail party when permitted.To make things simple we would like to offer the current membership structure for all who may be interested:
  • VP - $200 - (Polo Shirt included)
  • Family - $175
  • Playing - $70 (normally $125) - Until end of June 2021
  • Social - $50
  • Junior - $25
We understand these are difficult times for everyone and totally understand if this is something which is not possible at the current time. We will not stop any child or adult from playing or coming to the club during this season, but we would be grateful for any memberships / donations we can secure.We have various ways of collecting / paying for memberships so please let me know if you can pay the membership and we can work out the best method of doing so.Please contact us to make a contribution.Rob Speller President