Forged in Fire – Chapter Six: Building the Team – The First Committee

“A club is only as strong as the people running it.”

Building the Team – The First Committee

Assembling the committee was a challenge I thought I’d genuinely struggle with. Yet, even while I was drafting all those proposals during my recovery, I’d been sending them off to a key individual: Flying Officer Neil Herron, my holding officer. He was a fantastic young man, incredibly dedicated, and clearly destined for a stellar career in the RAF. His feedback throughout the entire process was invaluable, truly helping us get to where we were.

One of the most critical appointments I needed to get right was the Officer In Charge (OIC) of the club, and Neil was my premiere choice. When I asked him, I first had to express my sincere gratitude for everything he had already done. He graciously accepted, stating it would be an honour. His very first order of business was signing the forms I had in my hand to get a Station Bank Account set up. Hey, I needed that account on the off chance the RAF Sports Lottery was actually going to award our movement some cash! The account application was completed within 48 hours.

In those same 48 hours, I went live with a Microsoft Teams Post recruiting committee members. I secured my SNCO at the time, Chris Clarke, as the Second In Command (2IC) and the Treasurer. I appointed myself as the Club Secretary. I then brought on board a trio of dedicated game leads and a couple of essential equipment specialists. Our eight-man team was officially in place. There was a lot of dual-hatting, and it was certainly very armourer-centric, but we were finally going places.

Next time on Forged in Fire…

The envelope sat in the hands of fate, and we could only wait. One signature would launch us into glory… or slam the door on everything we’d dreamed of.

In Chapter Seven: The EGM and the Waiting Game. From the EGM to strategy sessions, follow how we turned the Blades from a concept into a structured team ready to hit the ground running… If the funding said yes.