2010s - RECENT TIMES

Recent times have been dominated by the 2010-2012 eathquakes.  Yet, through it all, Parklands Rugby Club was "UNSHAKEABLE."

2011 – RUGBY AND RUMBLES
In 2011, Parklands RFC won Christchurch’s “Club of the Year,” and our Assistant Club Captain, Andy McDonald, won NZRFU’s “Volunteer of the Year.”

This was some celebration in what had been a long and tragic year for Parklands residents. On February 22, Christchurch was hit by two earthquakes which devastated the City Centre and killed over 180 people. Here, in the east of Christchurch, our houses were falling apart. Our streets were flooded. Our nerves were frayed. We wanted our rugby for something to cheer about. We wanted to use our rugby to bind us and distract us. We wanted our kids to see that things could carry on as normal (sort of!). But people were leaving Parklands, and our precious rugby grounds were soiled. Yet we survived. How did we do it? How did we get through this?

As the registrations opened in March 2011, we were worried. How many had left? Would we have to reduce the number of teams? Amazingly, registrations were up. Even though (depending on the figures you hear), Parklands lost 5-8% of its population, we actually increased our rugby numbers. All us parents wanted our kids to have a focus. We wanted to laugh again and cheer and celebrate the successes of our young heroes.

The start of the season in April 2011 was problematic: our precious rugby grounds looked like a battlefield. There was mud, swamp and craters everywhere. Andy McDonald, of McDonald Plumbing led the clean-up operation. Holes were filled in, topsoil was raked level, and new grass was seeded. Andy managed to pull in a swath of willing volunteers, who all had the same thought – we have to keep our rugby.

Then on June 11, it all happened again: another two earthquakes that flooded many parts of Parklands, as well as our rugby grounds. All that hard work …. Gone. It was heartbreaking. There was no way the grounds could sustain our Club Day. We were so looking forward to Club Day. It’s the one day of the year when the whole Club gets together and plays the entire day on the Home Ground. And those damn earthquakes took it away.

Out of the gloom came an offer from a sympathetic fellow Rugby Club. Merivale-Papanui RFC has one of the biggest grounds in Christchurch, with four full pitches and a junior pitch. We could have our Club Day there! The Parklnds committee ramped up the activity, and our successful Club Day was held at Nunweek Park on 2 July 2011. A great example shot from the day (below), shows a muddied and bloodied (!) Under-6 Black team, together with proud coaches and caregivers. Click on the image to zoom-in:

It is a telling fact that, despite having to move our Club Day from our own grounds to Merivale-Papanui’s, we had a huge day that was in fact bigger than our Club Day during the 2010 season. Our grateful thanks to Merivale-Papanui for their grounds on this perfect day. The conclusion to Club Day was parents and coaches playing a game of Golden Oldies. It was played hard, and there were some comments that it wasn't Golden Oldies rules at all! The two opposing teams were:

* parents/coaches of the Under-6 to Under-9 teams (playing in white tops),
* parents/coaches of the Under-10 to Under-13 teams (green tops).

Two teams playing three quarters of middle-aged rugby madness, fuelled by a little half-time Speights, whisky or rum. For all of us who played, it was a slice of rugby heaven. The picture below shows Simon Ward with the ball, who won Man of The Match. Click on the image to zoom-in:

We held Club Night at the twilight of a superb Club Day. The bodies of the coaches and parents were sore, but you would never have seen such a collection of happy, bruised, smiling faces.

Wasn’t there something else that year? That’s right – RUGBY WORLD CUP 2011!!! To celebrate the tournament, and to finish off a great rugby year (at least), each Parklands Team adopted a Rugby World Cup Country. Thirteen teams sampled songs, food and dance from thirteen nations competing in our country's favourite pastime. Despite the fact that NO Rugby World Cup games were held in Christchurch, our entire Club came out in our biggest Club Night of the year, to celebrate international rugby diversity. We all jumped into the event. The picture, above, shows an enthsuiastic Under-7 Orange murdering the Irish National Anthem! Click on the picture to enlarge.

2011 - that was the shaky year that was:
* Parklands RFC Canterbury Club of the Year
* Parklands Assistant Club Captain, NZRFU Volunteer of the Year, Andy McDonald
* Home games played, despite numerous earthquakes and liquefaction flooding
* Increased player numbers
* Our most successful Club Day ever

So, even before the All Blacks' grinding win against France, we could say, "This was our Best-Ever Rugby Year."

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Club Email: parklandsrugby@xtra.co.nz