Sponsoring Rayno Gerber
By apb
November 1 2005
Those of you with exceptionally long memories will remember that TykesRugby.co.uk first started sponsoring players at Christmas 2003, when we were lucky enough to sponsor the younger half of the Murphy brothers, Phil.
Now playing for Worcester, Phil Murphy was the first in what I hope will be a long line of good young talent that TykesRugby.co.uk supports.
In 2004/5, the player we elected to take under our sponsorship wing was the young, fit, strong and heavy tighthead prop, Rayno Gerber. Capped for South Africa at under 21 level, Rayno was taken on at the end of the 2003 Currie Cup campaign, where he played in the final for the Free State Cheetahs, narrowly missing out to the Blue Bulls that year.
When he arrived, Rayno certainly made an impact. The pack was bolstered, and a new solidity emerged in the tight. But what was really impressive, was the hands. Rayno has the best pair of hands imaginable for a prop, and exhibited his handling skills most impressively in the Powergen Cup tie against the Pertemp Bees. And he's been something of a crowd favourite ever since.
However, TykesRugby.co.uk can't sponsor players on its own. We are a completely revenue-free website, created by fans, for fans, and all artwork, articles and photographs are freely given by the owners of the appropriate copyrights. We raise money by the kind donation of Tykes fans throughout Yorkshire (and some even further afield), who give their money to help the sponsorship. While the sponsorship is in the name of TykesRugby.co.uk, it is the donors who are the real sponsors.
As part of the sponsor's deal, we receive a signed match shirt of the man himself, and this causes us something of a problem. One shirt, many sponsors. How do we come to an equitable settlement? After canvassing the original consortium, we decided between us to hold a lottery for the shirt, based on the individual's contribution; the more you paid, the better your chances of winning!
The draw was made at my house, in front of an independent adjudicator (my wife) and a witness to oversee fair play (the cat). The winner of this prestigious shirt was Simon Mulholland. Now Simon is a very generous man, and he'd spotted someone in the crowd who is there at Headingley every match, rain or shine, win or lose. This person is committed to Leeds Tykes and takes a great deal of pleasure out of attending the games. Most of the players already are on first name terms with him! Simon decided that this person would probably get a lot more enjoyment out of the shirt than he, so he has given it to arguably Tykes' biggest fan, Ben Cropper.
We arranged to meet with Ben after the match against Calvisano, and so it was a bubbling atmosphere in the Long Room after the Tykes' first win of the season, and Ben was clearly delighted with the result. We'd also arranged that Rayno Gerber himself would come and present Ben with the shirt, and after a quick chat about the game, it was duly handed over. And as I think you can tell from the pictures, I think he was pretty happy about it!
Rayno hands Ben the match shirt, as worn during the 2004/5 season.
Ben and Simon Mulholland, winner of the original prize, kindly donated.
We are still recruiting sponsors for the 2005/6 sponsorship consortium, once again for Rayno Gerber, details of how to get involved are on this messageboard thread. Join us now, and you too could have a smile as wide as Ben's!