Skerries’ ‘TJ’ Wins Leinster Volunteer Award
Leinster Rugby have announced that Tom Jones of Skerries RFC has been named the Leinster Rugby/Evening Herald Volunteer of the Month for September. Thanks to Tom for all his hard work and dedication to Skerries RFC and Leinster Rugby.
Proposed for the award by Jacinta O’Rourke, Tom Jones, known to all at Skerries Rugby Club as simply ‘TJ’, has been officially associated with the club since his playing days started in 1968.
Now in his 67th year, he admits to being a late starter. He was 26, but has outlasted many a man since then.
Tom played with the club seconds team along with contemporaries Stafford Stack, Gerry Weldon and Damien Dunne up until 1972, winning a Seconds Towns Cup and Jenkinson’s Cup medal in 1971 before finishing his playing career with a Dunne Cup medal in 1972.
After a period of R&R, TJ then took up his now famed position of bag-man/water-carrier/chief rubber-upper in 1979, initially with the seconds and thirds, where he stayed until 1992 when he became bagman for the first team.
This continued up until 2004, an unbelievable period of 25 years. If this was not enough, he took on the task of pitch-marking, grass-cutting, etc. (or as he likes to call it ‘Ground maintainance engineer’) in 1993 and continues with that task to this day.
On the social side, TJ started the Thursday Night Club, known as the TNC, for weekly get-togethers in the club bar as well as squeezing in 13 trips to Dunbar, many of which he has trouble remembering!
His best day so far in the Skerries colours was in 1998 at Landsdowne Road for the Leinster Cup final with the trip to Bahrain in 1999 running it a close second.
Thank you Tom for great service you have given to Skerries Rugby Club.
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