Towcestrians Sports Club (Towcestrians) is a British

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

based in

Towcester Towcester ( ) is an affluent market town in Northamptonshire, England. It currently lies in West Northamptonshire but was the former administrative headquarters of the South Northamptonshire district council. Towcester is one of the oldest ...

, Northamptonshire. It was founded in 1933 as a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

club, and subsequently extended its scope to

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

, and

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

History

Old Towcestrians Rugby Club was founded in 1933 by "old boys" of Towcester Grammar School (now Sponne School Technology College). In the following summer Old Towcestrians Cricket Club was formed and included many members from the rugby club in the market town of Towcester. The two clubs operated independently until the mid-1960s with rugby being played in the centre of Towcester whilst cricket used the school pitch, pavilion and canteen for teas. In 1967 negotiations were begun with Hesketh Estates regarding the availability of land and the rugby and cricket committees began work on the constitution for a combined ‘open’ club. In February 1968 the joint committees agreed a 30-year lease with Hesketh Estates for 9 acres of land ground off the Greens Norton Road. In March of the same year a special meeting approved the amalgamation of the two clubs into Towcestrians Rugby and Cricket Club under the chairmanship of Colin Waklelin. Although Old Towcestrians Tennis Club originally started in 1925 they joined the new club later in the summer of 1968. In August 1969 planning approval was granted for the development of the new facilities and construction work begun on the club house and ground. One year later, in August 1970, the new ground was opened. The Hockey club joined in 1982 and played on a grass pitch till new Hockey rules forced them to play on artificial pitches in Northampton. Towcestrians Softball started in 2014 as Towcester Tigers playing at Towcestrians.

Sports

Rugby

Senior Rugby

Towcestrians senior rugby consists of Towcestrians 1st XV, 2nds and 3rds with a Mini and Junior Section. Towcestrians 1st XV saw promoted in 2016 and will start their 2016-2017 season in National 3 Midlands. 2016 also saw Towcestrians 1st XV win the Lewis Shield on 19 April 2016 with a 19 - 34 comprehensive win over Bletchley RFC at Franklins Gardens Northampton. Ladies Rugby Towcester Roses are one of the newest additions to the club's teams; Ladies, young and old, from the surrounding area play in the NC3 South Midlands League.

Mini and Juniors Rugby

Towcestrians Mini & Junior Section caters for young players from the ages of 6 up to 17, organised into year groups with some year groups having more than one team. Coaching sessions are held on Sunday mornings (10am - 12 noon), games/matches are scheduled throughout the year according to the structured season.

Tennis

Towcestrians Tennis have three flood lit all weather tennis courts offering playing facilities all year round. Activities include 5 teams playing in local leagues, Social Play, Junior Coaching and Summer Camps.

Cricket

Towcestrians Cricket caters for Senior and Junior cricket with the Senior XI winning promotion to SNCL Division 2 in 2015 with a game in hand. Cricket is played at Towcestrians and winter nets at Sponne School with notable players such as

Graeme Swann Graeme Peter Swann (born 24 March 1979) is an English former cricketer who played all three formats of the game. Born in Northampton, he attended Sponne School in Towcester, Northamptonshire. He was primarily a right-arm off-spinner, and also ...

Hockey

Towcestrians Hockey currently have 2 men, 5 lady, juniors and a mixed team.

Softball

Towcester Tigers backed up by GB player Alex Reynolds he has also been selected by Baseball/Softball UK for the Youth Sports Trust National Talent Camp for coaching/umpire. After her first season Laura Simpson has tried for Softball Academy and has been accepted into High Performance Academy, and Youth Sports Trust National Talent Camp as a softball player. She has also been asked to represent GB in the Netherlands in January 2016 at an Indoor softball tournament and selected as eligible for trials for the GB women’s team to play at the world championships in Canada in July.

References

{{reflist Rugby clubs established in 1933 Rugby union in Northamptonshire 1933 establishments in England