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Position: Sponsorship secretary

Proposed: Kate, Seconded: Polly

Hello there LUUWRUFC, I’m Daisy, and I am campaigning to be one of your new sponsorship secretaries.

Since becoming a member of LUUWRUFC I have loved being a part of this great society. Being on committee is something I have wanted to do since then to give back to the club that has been such an important part of my time in Leeds. Watching Kate and Polly’s example as sponsorship secs this year has inspired me to want to continue their excellent work in helping the club develop and grow, through raising the necessary funds. I believe I can bring a positive and hardworking attitude to the club, aiding LUUWRUFC to increase funds and sponsors to help the club advance even further.

Being sponsorship sec is a position that I believe I am well suited for. With 10 years of playing rugby under my belt, I have built numerous connections within the rugby community. These are connections we could utilise. My dad is the chairman of my local rugby club back home, providing me the opportunity to witness the running of a club. He’s given me lots of important tips that would benefit me for sponsorship sec. For the past 2 years I have been surrounded by the business and financial side of running a club. Whether that be making PowerPoints for the next committee meetings or proposing my own ideas that could benefit the club. Having been involved in debates and meetings at my home club, I believe I have a lot of experience within admin sector and can bring that into my role as sponsorship sec. Other skills I have include great customer service, excellent organisation and efficiency, and communication. (e.g. being on the bench and screaming across the pitch during games). Due to an operation in the summer, I will have plenty of time to tackle sponsorship sec with all my attention.

My main aim for the club next year is to continue to increase the clubs’ finance through sponsorship deals. The cost-of-living crisis has hit all of this, and this can be felt through the increased price of a club membership. This is something that I wish to address and hopefully reduce the cost of membership by raising revenue to make being a part of LUUWRUFC accessible to all. Furthermore, I am looking to expand on our current sponsorships and look at getting new sponsors on board. I think it is vital to maintain a good relationship with Pickard, but I would like to also seek new opportunities to build new connections and obtain more sponsors that will aid both the club and business. Also, I am eager to utilise the money we get outside of direct sponsors to help increase club’s finance too.
Another area with opportunities of expansion is oddballs and LUUWRUFC merch. Merch from oddballs while fun is also a great source of finance for the club. However, having spoken to members of the club, I believe there is an opportunity for more merch that is more inclusive. This could involve getting LUURWUFC boxers and adding more size options. In addition to this, I would like to propose a business that could be a potential new sponsor. The company are called WACKYSOX who provide high quality performance sports socks for athletes. They have so many cool designs, and I would look at getting our LUUWRUFC colours and perhaps some funky designs.

What largely drew me to the role of sponsorship sec was the involvement in charity work. It is important to me to feel as though I am in a club that is of benefit to the wider community. With the incredible work Kate and Polly have done this year, hosting the charity social and raising money I feel inspired to continue these efforts. I would love to keep building on the astounding £1850 raised this year. As sponsorship sec I want to continue the amazing charity work for MIND and Freedom4girls. In addition to this, working with more charities locally, holding a vote within the club to see who we wish to support. I would like to see opportunities for collaboration in socials and possibly within welfare looking at sober social as a chance to partake in fundraising events.

I have loved being a member of LUUWRUFC, and I hope as sponsorship sec I can give back and bag some amazing sponsors. Please vote for me to be your next sponsorship secretary. Thank you!

Proposed by Sally Cannon, seconded by Kate Dutton

Hi I’m Molly, I have been part of LUUWRUFC for 2 years and it has been my favourite part of university, and I want to try and make it that for everyone who joins. Having played for the 1s and 2s, I can understand what different people want from the club and I would like to have an impact to make the club better for everyone in all teams.
As some of you know, I have been social sec of Physoc this year. From being in that role, I have gained experience being on committee and raising money as Physoc was broke at the start of the year. In this role I also gained experience in organising deals and partnerships with different people. From negotiating deals, making sure requirements are fulfilled, and communicating with organisations, I have learnt a lot this year which would help me in the role of sponsorship sec. It has helped me to understand the importance of communication within a committee and how to work alongside the other committee members to make sure everyone is supported and works together to improve the society.
I would like to try to get sponsors for a new 2s kit, either through asking Pickards to or by finding another sponsor (making sure Pickards is still happy). I want to do this because it can feel like the other teams get prioritised with training and matches and they deserve a new kit so finding a sponsor to make this happen would be one of my main goals. I would communicate with the new kit sec as well as the rest of the committee to try to organize in time for the start of the season and make sure that everyone looks great while winning.
One of the things I would do if I was sponsorship sec would be to create a challenge event next year for charity, which would be similar to the charity walk and burn n earn this year. The idea would be to compete in teams to climb the height of the 3 peaks or Everest like climbing stairs or going on walks. I know from experience that there can be a lot of pressure to put a dare in for the charity social and making it good enough. So, I would like to create an event that isn’t alcohol related so everyone can have the opportunity to help raise money for our chosen charity.
Lastly, I know that we have had Oddballs in the past but there haven’t been boxers which I know that many of the people in the club would like more than the thongs. I would contact Oddballs to get them, as well as finding out from the club if there is interest in other Oddballs items like bobble hats or bucket hats.
Also, I know that other clubs, such as lacrosse and hockey, have a jumper (similar to the committee one) and I think it would be nice to have this for LUUWRUFC. I know that sometimes there are problems with minimum orders, but I have spoken to other societies and found that touch rugby get around this by doing 1 order a year to get them, and have spoken to members of other clubs to find out where they get them to get the best deals.
Please consider me for sponsorship sec, so I can help make LUUWRUFC as good for everyone as it is for me.

Proposed by: Polly Bowen
Seconded by: Rose Lietke
Hi, I’m Maddie and I’m putting myself forward for sponsorship secretary for the 24/25 season. As someone who joined the club this season, I have benefitted from the opportunity to socialize with a variety of people as well as a chance to play and advance my rugby. I would like to continue this for other people and believe I can help in this position.
Being comfortable when playing rugby is a key part of the game. That’s why I would like to generate funding for more size inclusive playing kits. This funding would go towards bigger socks sizes for those players with big boy calves as well as larger playing shirts. This would provide an additional option for those who chose to wear them to feel more comfortable. I would also like to look into getting boxers through OddBalls as well. Additional to this, I would like to find a sponsor who would be willing to sponsor training kit for us. Some of the club merch can be a bit expensive so this would provide something that everyone in every team can wear together. This could either be shorts or t-shirts and would be free (hopefully) or at a reduced cost. I would be willing to work closely with the kit sec as well as the potential sponsor to make sure all parties are happy with the final product.
After seeing the effort Polly and Kate put into raising a record amount for charity this year, I think it’s very important to keep the momentum going. A potential local charity that would benefit from the fundraising we do is St George’s Crypt which is a Leeds-based homeless charity. As we saw this year, the charity social was very successful and other events to help raise money could be sponsored fitness challenge which have been successful at other clubs, quiz nights and games night which also provide another social opportunity. I have previous experience for this position as last year I worked with two other people to raise over £2000 for a local NICU charity. This taught me organizational skills to run multiple events as well as communication skills to run these events successfully.
As a large club I think it’s important we understand and take responsibility for the effect we have on the environment. A great opportunity to do this is with BASIS which is The British Association for Sustainable Sport. They offer free individual membership as well as sports club memberships. These provide benefits such as informative literature on the principles for sustainability in sport as well as access to online and in person events and activities. By making a change in our actions to positively benefit the environment, this will help attract some of the up-and-coming sustainable businesses in Leeds.
Lastly, maintaining or hopefully reducing membership costs would be a key priority for me. The cost-of-living crisis is still affecting everyone, so this is a small thing that benefits us all. I would do this by maintaining good connections with current sponsors, especially Pickards as well as attracting new sponsors. I think capitalising on the momentum generated by the 2025 women’s world cup is a great opportunity to attract new sponsors.
Thank you for considering me for sponsorship secretary!!