Welcome Back - A New Season Begins!

Welcome back! The wait is nearly over, and there is a real sense of excitement around the Rec as we prepare for another season of rugby at Hove. We are delighted to welcome back every player, coach, volunteer, member, supporter and extend an especially warm welcome to all the new faces joining our club for the first time this season.

After a truly remarkable year for the club last season, there is so much to look forward to. Across our senior, youth, minis, girls and women's sections, teams are coming back together, new players are pulling on Hove colours for the first time and preparations are well underway for what we hope will be another fantastic year. There is plenty happening off the pitch too. We want the Rec to be busier, better and more enjoyable than ever, with more events, more opportunities to get involved and plenty of reasons to spend your weekends at the club. Rugby is at the heart of Hove, but it's the people around it who make our club what it is.

A challenging start

Of course, the start of the season comes with one very obvious challenge: the state of the pitches. After a long, dry summer, the ground at the club is exceptionally hard, creating genuine safety concerns as training and warm-up fixtures get underway. The hard surface makes high-impact contact and tackling particularly risky, and the health and safety of our players must always come first. The RFU has already delayed senior competitive fixtures, and we are managing our pre-season preparations carefully while we wait for some much-needed rain to soften the ground.

In the meantime, the focus is on smart preparation building fitness, sharpening skills and getting teams ready without putting players under unnecessary risk. We ask all coaches and players to exercise extra caution, look out for one another and adjust contact levels appropriately for the conditions.

Plenty to look forward to

A stubbornly dry pitch will delay some rugby, but it certainly hasn't dampened the enthusiasm around the club. Last season gave us an enormous amount to celebrate, and our ambition now is to build on that momentum. We have new ideas, further improvements planned and another full season of rugby, events and club life ahead of us. Whether you're playing, coaching, volunteering, supporting from the touchline or simply joining us for a drink in the clubhouse, we want everyone to feel part of what promises to be a very exciting season at Hove.

Here's to another memorable year at the Rec.

Welcome back and bring on the 2026/27 season!