Buxton RUFC are 'trying to make it work'

Karl de Groot is working hard to make Buxton a success.

The club have been hit hard by the effects of COVID and are currently unsure when they will next play again.

Club Director Karl DeGroot told said “It (COVID-19) has had an impact, certainly on finances. We had seen a declining club model over a sustained period of time, despite working very hard to change this trend with the RFU.

“Buxton is a football town, so it has always been a battle for numbers but even the number of games played at the football community game level here has vastly reduced in recent years. So it is not a unique challenge to rugby.

“I pulled the club out of the leagues early in the pandemic due to a lack of player numbers and engagements.

"At that point we really could not see a way forward; we only had nine lads training."

The Stags have entered a side into the local Derbyshire cluster leagues in hope that they might be able to field a team when the sports gets up and running again.

“We also have a number of younger lads who can now play having transitioned age grades, so here’s hoping,” he added. “It would be such a shame if it was really the end.

"I am trying really hard to make it work. People need to understand this.”

DeGroot added the club have been working hard to engage with the local community.

“ “We have seen regular football matches at all age grades and genders played at Sunnyfields,” he said. “ We have supported some fitness activities, dance and yoga and looking at local events with the Scouts and even nursery provision, so we are engaging at a level that we never have before.

“We have refurbished the clubhouse, installed a new drinks product line and food offering and have appointed some quality front of house staff to look after our customers in a more considered way, something we haven’t realised the importance of in the past.

“The facilities are first class now both internally and externally, so let’s hope our efforts are rewarded.

"No one has a divine right to succeed. You need to work hard, engage and give a little back to be successful.”