Newent Rugby Club have taken on all-comers in recent years and never ever taken a backward step.

It’s been a remarkable story with the club’s flagship team – the 1st XV – enjoying trips to Twickenham and multiple promotions over the past decade or so.

These days they are more than holding their own in South West One West, and the club are in very capable hands with captain Ross Webb and his merry band of men.

Now the junior section of the club, under the progressive chairmanship of Andrew Barr, are looking to ensure that the future of the club is just as bright as the present.

Put simply, the club want more juniors and while the seniors have gone toe-to-toe with anything put in front of them this side of the millennium, 40-year-old Barr is ready “to fight the iPad and Xbox generation” to make the youth section a thriving concern.

It’s a battle the club almost certainly need to win if their success at senior level is to be sustainable.

“It’s vital that we get the younger generation coming through into the adult teams,” said Barr. “It’s something we’ve always done really well in the past, but these days we’re fighting the iPad and Xbox generation.

“Kids don’t seem so willing to play outside as my generation.”

At present the club have about 60 youngsters on their books ranging from under-4 through to under-16. That is an improvement on the start of the year but well short of capacity which is about 150.

“I became chairman in January and soon after we hit our lowest number of kids, so that was a fantastic start wasn’t it,” chuckled Barr, who works in PR and was encouraged to take on the junior chairman role by his wife Jilly.

“But things have picked up since then and we want to get enough youngsters to field teams at every age group.

“We’ve got the facilities and the infrastructure to support them and I’ve received great support from club chairman John Moore and secretary Georgina Gardner.”

But while very grateful for the help they have given him, Barr reserves the greatest praise for the minis and juniors coaches who turn up at the Recreation ground every Sunday at 10am.

“They are the real unsung heroes,” said Barr. “They put in a lot of time and it’s not just on Sunday mornings. They organise schedules, put together training plans and read up on RFU guidelines. They always go the extra mile.

“We’re very lucky at Newent because we have a really good mix of coaches. Because we are a community club we have quite a few parents involved, but we’ve also got some coaches with plenty of playing experience like Joe Goatley who looks after the under-4s and under-5s.

“Bennett Smith is another who is doing some coaching and that’s a major coup for us. He has just moved from London and knows his rugby. He brings plenty of passion and pride – everything that modern rugby is about.

“Then there’s Lee Ormond. He and his wife Vicki do so much for club as does Bennett’s wife Joy. It’s this community feel that is driving the club forward.

“My job is to raise the profile of the club and attract new players.”

The club already have strong links with schools in Picklenash and Tibberton, as well as Newent Community School and Dene Magna School in Mitcheldean. The club are also working in places like Gorsley, Staunton and Highnam to attract more players.

Three of the young players who have been at the club for a couple of years have the surname Barr – Keaton, seven, and six-year-old twins Sephi and Oz.

That’s how their dad, who hasn’t played rugby for the best part of 20 years, first got involved in Newent RFC.

“I was a full-back and a very bad one,” Barr senior laughed although he may be being a bit harsh on himself because he did play for Lichfield’s first XV.

“I was able to kick out of hand quite a long way with both feet so I got in at full-back by default.

“When I moved to Gloucester, I quickly realised that rugby around here was an elite level and above anything else in the UK.

“I went to three training sessions at Longlevens and soon realised I wasn’t good enough, so I stopped playing.”

That was at the age of 22.

He may now wish he had carried on playing – when asked if he’d play for a veterans’ team if Newent set one up he said, “You never say never” – but if he doesn’t put on another pair of rugby boots again he is committed to making sure that as many youngsters as possible get the chance to do so at Newent.

Anyone who would like to join the junior section at Newent should email: Andrew.barr10@googlemail.com