Quote: RLBandit "RL has spread well to almost all big Universities. The total numbers are still less - most have one or two teams at most, versus a ton of Union teams, not just the main ones, but Hall teams, department teams, etc. That's a reflection of the intake, the vast majority of whom will only ever have played Union. So, the SRL has done well over the years.
For me, an absolute key breakthrough for a new club or Uni side is when they can field a second team - the benefit is more than just double.It makes a massive difference to player retention. If you've only one team then if you want to win you end up picking the best 13, leaving people without a game. They then get fed up and leave. Once you have a second team, for whom results don't matter much, you can get loads more people a game and your total retention is miles better.
If you're starting a club, do everything humanly possible to get two sides out, no matter how weak the second one is. If you start with one, there's never an easy time to suddenly jump to two, because if you can't offer people a game, they don't hang around long enough to build enough for that second team. If your launch attracts 30 people, get them all out on the field somehow!'"
Agreed, made a huge difference to us starting a 2nd team in my first year.
