RBC CAPTAINS CUP

At last evening’s Club Competitions Presentation Event Sam Cates was presented with the Captains Cup for 2023.

Lyn Davison explained the background for this year’s award:

“This year’s Captains Cup award is unusual in that the Men’s Captain has had no say in the choice of recipient !

The recipient was born in 1996 a BIG CLUE

He came to bowls as a schoolboy with his grandparents Lynn & Eric

His image from that time still adorns the banner on the homepage of the RBC website

Once he’d left school & uni he became a regular bowler & became natural leader of a group of youngsters at RBC

He was ambitious, joining the committee in 2015 & becoming Vice captain to Brian Sabey for 2 years from 2016

He first became RBC Captain in 2018 age 22

It WAS & still IS very unusual to have a Captain in his twenties

He set about doing all the things that Captains do

Organising teams, playing & Captaining matches. Being the focal point for men’s bowls at RBC .All with the great energy & enthusiasm of youth.

Leading the club forward into the 2020s

This Captain was not an older, retired man as most bowls captains are, but doing it while holding down a full time paid job or jobs .

He was ambitious for the club , leading it’s admission into ESL & Jubilee Leagues.

He has continued to lead the club until the present.

BUT This year he has come under extra pressure of work & moving house & arranging a wedding PLUS all the extra work associated with full membership of entry East Surrey League

So he has decided to return to ranks: to retire from the Captaincy but not from bowls.

We are awarding the Captain’s Cup this year to Sam as a thank you on behalf of RBC from the 2023 Captains Team Dan Daniel Mullen, Brian Sabey, Marion Gatland & myself”