How have three clubs battled back from Coronavirus to put on sport again for the town.
There have been a number of questions throughout the Coronavirus pandemic but one which stood out was how would grassroots sports react to the virus?
The answer has been met with great difficulty for three clubs across a small town in North Somerset.
Clevedon Cricket Club, Clevedon Rugby Club and Clevedon United FC have all experienced different outcomes in the last couple of years.
The impact of the virus had affected the three sports and brought more challenges such as Omicron, which turned out be milder than people thought.
But when you look deeper into it it is perhaps Rugby which has suffered the most.
OVER 500 DAYS WITHOUT RUGBY
"There is nothing better than pulling on your shirt on a Saturday and running around a field with your mates."
Whereas both Clevedon CC and Clevedon United were able to play again within months after the Coronavirus outbreak, Clevedon RFC went over 500 days, between March 2020 and September 2021, before returning to action.
A roadmap was created to help deal with Covid and a plan for returning to the game was put in place when it was safe to do so.
But the longer it went on the more if affected the club and in particular club captain Will Trollope.
"It was frustrating and tough. I love rugby. I love everything about it," he said.
"I love the camaraderie and there is nothing better than pulling on your shirt on a Saturday and running around a field with your mates.
“It’s a sport that is unlike any other. Not many other sports ask you to beat yourself up for your teammates. You literally put your body on the line.
"Rugby is a sport that requires a certain mentality and I missed it a significant amount. I think my girlfriend missed me playing it as well because I was stuck in the house on a Saturday. She was glad when it came back but I missed the playing aspect, the social aspect, I missed it."
It was during this period the Seasiders celebrated a century as a club.
Despite missing the milestone, hooker Jack Crew says the circumstances of Covid has brought everybody together.
“It was so hard because we couldn’t see each other, we couldn’t celebrate it," he said.
“We had to almost skip a year, sort of forget that year so this year is now our 100th. It was definitely hard but I think that’s just another thing that has made us come closer together realising that this club has been here 100 years.
“It’s still going. If the pandemic can’t stop it, I don’t know what can stop it really."
Trollope added: “There is a sense of pride the club has been around for 100 years and we are the team representing it at this point compared to the guys that represented it in year one.
“It does have an extra sense of pride every time you wear that shirt on game day. You do think it’s been quite a while this shirt has been pulled on every Saturday. It’s pretty special.”
MIXED SUCESS FOR CLEVEDON UNITED
"It was an absolute nightmare.”
Next door to the rugby club are Clevedon United, who by all accounts have enjoyed a pretty successful period.
First United won the Somerset Senior Cup after beating Mendip Broadwalk 4-0 in the final last May.
They are currently third in the Uhlsport Somerset League Premier Division and in contention for promotion.
But the road to potential promotion has been met with struggles and saw two successive seasons declared null and void.
When they came back, United put in place a number of regulations to keep people safe.
The club, in accordance with the government guidelines, had two metres social distancing, a one-way system through the club, players were not allowed in the changing rooms and had to change outside before games.
“In terms of planning a match it was an absolute nightmare," began Director of Football Chris Wall.
“You couldn’t use the showers, travelling for home and away you could only have one person in a car. In terms of that it was an absolute nightmare, but we are in a situation now it looks like we have come out the other side of it.
"Fingers crossed we look forward to never having that situation and never have that again. Hopefully."
Defender Cam Jenkins echoed Wall’s thoughts and shared what the experience was like from a player's point of view.
“One of the first games we had back after lockdown, which I believe was August 2020, we were not allowed to go into changing rooms, we had to change outside,” he said.
“Obviously there was no food or anything like that. We didn’t go in the clubhouse even though they had it open for table service. It was weird we couldn’t shower after the game.
“It was straight back in your tracksuits and basically go back home or back to this club where it was all table service.
“(The procedures were) pretty boring. It takes away the whole point of going down to the club in a way. Although you could socialise you could only do it with a minimal amount of people.
“Although you could see faces you couldn’t really socialise as much as you like to.”
Louie Woodland, who plays for Clevedon United and Clevedon CC, saw what happened at the football happen in the cricket as well.
The 18-year-old played his first ever season for Clevedon CC last summer.
"I’ve always wanted to experience what it is like to be in the changing rooms with the first team after a win,” he said.
“But it wasn’t quite like that, we couldn’t always go and it was in bubbles of six inside the changing room.
“We weren’t all in together all the time talking, apart from the end of the season when everything came back to normality, but at the start it was really hard being outside all the time and not being able to talk as a group really.”
CLEVEDON CC KEEP MORALE HIGH
"It was the release that all of us needed, that competitive sport."
But to keep morale up players were involved in group chats and maintained their competitive side by playing on the Xbox and took part in fitness challenges.
"You can’t replace the real thing in terms of getting onto the pitch and actually playing and having that competitive game," added vice-captain Matt Carpenter.
“But as a club we were very good in doing everything possible that we could do in order to try and recreate some of that."
However, Carpenter says the time away has made him appreciate the sport more.
"I have found a new love for it again," he continued.
“That passion was still there but maybe not burning as bright as it is now. It was our release. It’s what we look forward to.
“Ok we have got a week working from home but I know that when I get to a Saturday, I get to play cricket. It was the release that all of us needed, that competitive sport."
PANDEMIC HAS BROUGHT THREE CLUBS CLOSER TOGETHER
"Now is the time to make the most of it.”
In a survey given out to 24 people conducted by North Somerset Times it revealed 83.3 per cent said the return of sport in North Somerset was fantastic while 62.5 per cent said they appreciate the sport more than before the pandemic.
All three clubs have rallied around each other to come back stronger than ever before and for supporters of Clevedon United and Clevedon CC, Andy Woodland says the return of sport is great for the town and for the three sides.
“Sport in Clevedon has always been a massive thing,” said Woodland.
“Covid was really negative at the time but it is a massive positive for us moving forward, building all three clubs in the future.
“As Clevedon sports clubs we all chat together, we try and move the clubs forward as a whole. Our chairmen get together and they talk about everything that we need to do to try and make each of the clubs work together and make each of the clubs better for the whole community in general.”
Clevedon CC captain Cam Harding said returning to the sport has brought him excitement and that they will go into the future with more anticipation.
“It's really good because we have missed out on so much. Even the professional game, we've seen hardly anything," he said.
“It's exciting because everyone loves sport. We love that social side after the game talking about how your mates went on Saturday morning or Saturday afternoon down the club.
“It is that social side, it brings everything up. It's also exciting to see people who don't play and the supporters of each three clubs posting all about it on social media. Getting the views up for it and getting the excitement up for it because that is what you need.
“Especially after two years of Covid you need the backing of your supporters to make it a big thing. It is a big thing; it is one of those things before now we have taken it for granted.
“Now we have had these two years of struggle we have definitely taken it for granted before that and now is the time to make the most of it.”
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