Malaga Rugby Club step up demands for their own pitch

Plans to build facilities have been in place since 2005, with the club currently going through difficulties due to an increase in players and a lack of space

SHAY CONAGHAN

Friday, 4 February 2022, 13:50 | Updated 13:57h.

Malaga Rugby Club are calling for the city hall to give them the pitch they were promised in 2005. Construction of the facilities was stopped in 2009 by the city's Planning department, even though the club had been working on the land for a week.

Malaga RC currently compete in the Ciudad de Malaga stadium, although this season has seen them play elsewhere on five occasions due to scheduling conflicts.

In a press release sent out by the club, they said: "During training sessions, we are divided in different pitches, which leads to double the amount of equipment and an distancing of players from the club, but in rugby the social aspect is almost as important as the sporting one."

Specifically, Malaga RC are denouncing that up to 90 players have trained on the same football pitch at the same time. "We've trained without rugby posts to practise kicking, a fundamental aspect of the game; we had no player run-off zones on the pitch and it also lacked the correct painted lines." Moreover, the club say that over 25,000 euros have been spent annually on renting fees.

Instability on all levels

Damien Caldy, who comes from Brittany and is the under 16s coach at Malaga RC, believes that the situation is directly affecting both his players and others at the club. "Kids are training on football pitches, or worse, only a half pitch," he said to SUR in English. "You have 80 to 90 kids on half a football pitch, and on the other half there's a dozen kids playing football."

Damien was amazed when these problems first occured, but now he's used to the situtation. "Because we don't have a rugby pitch, we've played matches [in which] I've seen kids - who hadn't played on a proper pitch before - drop the ball before scoring a try because they didn't know what to do," he explained. "It impacts our coaching. Training on pitches with no proper posts affects the kicking aspect of the kids' game, which is much weaker."

This situation not only causes problems for the younger players, but the older ones too, especially the club's first team, which currently plays in the second tier of Spanish rugby.

The instability might not affect Malaga RC's performances on the pitch, but it doesn't paint a pretty picture to visiting teams. "It doesn't help to jump from one pitch to another, as well as not always having a clubhouse, which is the norm in rugby," Damien said. "It's not a good look for Malaga and it doesn't give off a good image internationally either."

Malaga has been in an upwards trajectory in recent years, as the city aims to grow bigger and host more important sporting events, such as the recent World Rugby Sevens Series. But that rugby growth could be slowed down substantially. "I was speaking to a Jamaican player during the rugby 7s tournament and he was flabbergasted. He wants to come back [one day], but I said we won't be able to make it happen on the basis we don't have a ground or a clubhouse. It's a massive waste for the city," he said.

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