Beecroft Rugby Club
A junior rugby union club existed in the 1950s and 1960s where Mr Barrell and John Cornford were coaches and John Cornford’s father was Club Patron.[2]
The adult Beecroft Rugby Club was a logical extension to many years of junior rugby being played in the District. It was formed as an entity in 1998 out of the former St Leo’s Old Boys Rugby Union Football Club and the Ku-Ring-Gai High Old Boys. It has grown rapidly to field 6 grade teams and 2 Colts teams in 2012.
It has had a number of successful seasons across the fill range of grades and in 2008 it had its first team in the 1st Division – coming 4th in the Club Championship table in that same year: showing the strength of the team. However it was then demoted to 4th Division in 2015 and has started to work its way back from there.
The club’s home grounds are at Headon Park and in 2019 it received a grant of $125,000 to upgrade its clubhouse. In 2019 it had over 120 adult players and over 300 junior players (under the banner of Northern Barbarians). [1]
Presidents since becoming Beecroft Rugby:
1966-1969 Paul Crawford
1970-77 1983-84, 1995-96 John Nicholson
1978-1979 D Eastman
1980-1981 D Chudleigh
1982 M Tancred
1985 R Raper
1987 S Pensini
1988 G Kirby
1989-1990, Paul Fabian
1991-94, 1997-2004 John Marron
2005 Mike Ryan
2006-08, 2011-14 Dylan Schofield
2009-10 Howard Baynie
2015-17 Dean Berkhout
2118-19 Ben Ashwood
2020 Peter May
[2] information supplied by Janet Paterson 8 February 2013
[1] “$125,000 for Beecroft Rugby Club” Monthly Chronicle February 2019 p 10