05 Sep President’s Message 2026/27
Members & Friends of Navan RFC,
Hello and welcome to the new season 2026-27, particularly to any newcomers to Balreask Old. I am deeply honoured and proud to continue to serve as President of our Club which is in good health with over a thousand members. But as ever, we cannot afford to rest on our laurels.
Many sports see a significant drop in the numbers of young players participating, especially in their teenage years. As the pre-eminent Club in the North East, we strive to keep as many young players involved in our sport as possible, and we are delighted to see growing numbers of Navan RFC players succeeding at provincial and national levels. Already this season, we have seen with a strong Navan presence in the National Universities 7s squad, the Ireland U18 Girls team in the recent European Youth Touch Rugby championship, the Leinster Women’s team and the Leinster U18 Boys and Girls teams.
Our own Women’s teams had a great year last year, runners-up in Leinster League Division 1 and winners of the Paul Flood Cup. I wish them continued success under our Women’s Head Coach Jackie Shiels and the management and coaching team, as they hunt for promotion.
Best wishes also to our new Men’s head coach, Dan van Zyl, and to everyone in his management and coaching group and all in the Senior Men’s squad. It’s very exciting to also see a new men’s team launching, the U23s, which will help to attract new (and returning) players to the Club and the sport, as well as retaining existing players.
My sincere thanks to all of our sponsors. Without their support, no matter how large or small, we simply could not continue to operate. We continue to do our best to ensure that our sponsors can quantify and realise the benefits that accrue from supporting Navan RFC.
I also want to offer heartfelt thanks to all of our volunteers: the players of every age and ability, the coaches, managers, administrators and governance officers, my colleagues on the Executive Committee, our superb social media team, our Club Medical Officer and Club Welfare Officer teams, and all of the volunteers who gives freely of their time to play a part in keeping this massive enterprise running. There is an immense amount of work involved in running the Club and, led by chairman Stephen Mackarel, we strive to ensure a manageable spread of that workload among the volunteers.
If you are interested in volunteering to any capacity, please contact anyone on the Executive Committee – we will be more than happy to help you find something suitable and rewarding role or position. As on the rugby pitch, there is a space for everyone on this team.
I wish an enjoyable and successful season to our supporters and to all of our teams – minis, youths, the Blue Dragons, and the adult men’s and women’s teams, and to all the guests we will host during the season: opposition teams, spectators and match officials – all are welcome in Navan RFC.
I’ll take this opportunity to remind everyone to please remember the core principle of respect at all times, particularly for match officials. If you must shout from the sidelines, please make sure to shout positive things!
Keep an eye on the revamped Club website https://www.navanrugby.com, which will be the central source of news and updates for all teams and for the Club as a whole. We have a number of exciting events lined up, both on and off the pitches, throughout the season. These events provide great opportunities to catch up with old (or new) friends and have the craic, and at the same time to support our Club.
Yours in rugby,
Eddie Lyons
President 2026/27
Navan RFC