Ambleside rugby union club, one of the oldest in the county, has put out an SOS for new players.
The Lakes club is 151 years old but now has some serious local problems, particularly with regard to stocking the squad.
In a plea on social media, the club say that the total number of residents in the village is now down to around 1,200 while the number of holiday homes is now running at 54 per cent.
The average age in the UK is 40, the average age in Ambleside is 47 with the median age being 51.
Ambleside has three local secondary schools who now between them have less than 1,000 pupils between the ages of 11 and 18. Not one now plays full contact rugby by the age of 16 year in year 11.
The club said: “Like the rest of the UK and thanks to the RFU we have no rugby community development coaches like Garry Holmes working with local clubs and schools and doing a great job engaging with young people and explaining the joys and benefits of playing our beautiful game.
“We have a small local university who have fully engaged with our village club and at the moment we have nine players from the university between the age of 18 and 19, making up 25 per cent of our total squad.
“The two oldest players in our squad, who we have to wheel out in emergencies. are both 58.
“Basically young people and young families are leaving the areas in droves due to their being no local affordable housing to rent or buy.”
At the moment Ambleside are 8th in the Counties 1 Cumbria League but the second half of the season looks like it could be the toughest nine games of competitive rugby the club has ever had to play since re-entering the league two years ago.
The club added: “We need your help as we are fighting week-in-week-out just to keep this small village rugby club going for another 150 years so we have no choice than to keep fighting and go full Spartan mode to ensure our very existence.”
If anyone can help, they are asked to call head coach Matty Kaye on 07498 752635.
