The Lugi Lions RFC wishes all of their members and fans a happy new year 2021. Our chairman Hans Hallstadius has summarized the happenings in our club in 2020 very nicely:

Hmm! Getting close to the end of the year, it’s time to take a look back.

A wasted year?

No, I don’t think so. During spring, when the pandemic caused flights to be cancelled all over the world, Lugi Rugby decided to keep on with the trainings, strictly following the restrictions from SRF.

Even if touch rugby cannot replace full contact, I still think we made it. We kept up the social life and, not least, managed to keep the spirit up.

A disaster?

By no means!

• The Lugi Ladies’ team had a great journey through the 7’s tournament and finished third after beating Malmö RC in a thrilling last game. What a great achievement!
• And both the Lugi Gents and Skåne Ladies teams were through to the play-off in the 15’s tournaments, where Skåne Ladies made it to the final against Enköping / mid Sweden all-star team.

A black hole?

No, no, no! There were plenty of highlights.

• Samuel Ekfeldt and Ale Loman represented Lugi Rugby in the Swedish National Team.
• The gents played a bunch of friendly games against very serious competition, including first division teams from Göteborg in Göteborg and Frederiksberg in Copenhagen. They lost, but they were never beaten!
• The kids´ section, covering ages from 8 through 10, 12 and 14 to 16, kept on growing in numbers. They played a number of friendly games, but for obvious reasons the Danish teams were not represented this year.
• And the club house has been refurbished. New paint makes the day!

Like dark ages?

No, I certainly don’t think so. We have had to sacrifice a lot, we needed to change plenty of old habits, and we have had to adapt ourselves to a new normal life.

But I’m happy to say that we are well prepared for the next season.

Future is bright.

• Stuart and Chris will continue to manage Lugi Gents’ team. They will bring their experience to both forwards and backline players.
• Ross will continue the journey with the Lugi Ladies’ team, a very interesting journey!
• Sean and Mattias proceed with the development of the kids’ teams with support from assistant coaches.
• And behind the coaches for the teams we will have Nigel and Matt as technical support. And what a support!

What can ever go wrong??

Forget about it?

No! Let’s learn from it. We are far from through, but I strongly believe that the light at the end of the tunnel is not a meeting train.

• In January we start the planning and preparations for the 2021 season.
• In March, a kick-off day for the whole club is planned. Hopefully, outdoor activities will be possible.
• And the After Season Dinner, that we lost in the shades of corona, will pop up in a different shape as soon as corona and restrictions allow us.
• The Ladies game schedule will be the same in 2021 as in 2020, with 7’s in the spring and 15’s after summer.
• For the gents the changes are significant. Lugi will play in Allsvenskan Syd with 5 other teams, among them Pingvin, Malmö and Göteborg. That’s 10 games before play-off starts in autumn. Kick-off date for the first game is April 17.

Finally, my personal favourite memory from 2020 is the enthusiastic French cheerleader team at the sideline during the first Skåne Ladies’ final against Enköping et al.

See you next season. Be there!

Happy New Year. Stay safe!

On behalf of the board

Hans Hallstadius