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<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nDive a bit deeper, and you\u2019ll find a definition a bit closer to the mark \u2018\u2026 an amateur enthusiast, someone willing to partake in their sport without necessarily being a winner, for the love of the sport.\u2019 <\/em>If the competition reports are to be believed, this is much closer to the mark, although I do get the sense of strong rivalry between drivers at time!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps the best definition actually builds on the \u2018gentleman\u2019s club\u2019 theme, which further defined these purported \u2018gentleman\u2019s clubs\u2019 (which Google may leave you thinking were just private boys\u2019 clubs and dens of iniquity and defined them as being formed after World War 1 and where sporting clubs where former soldiers could escape the daily nightmares of the horrors they witnessed. We hear every week on the news about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the suicide rate amongst ex-service people, police, nurses and paramedics and the current Royal Commission. With people suffering with all the benefits of modern medicine and phycological support, how returned servicemen and nurses from the horrors of WW1 coped is beyond me. My father talks of how his dad would rarely talk about his experiences and emersed himself in his farming but always looked forward to visiting his local RSL where he could be with his mates, no doubt exactly what the term Clubman actually refers to. Club level participation in something as a type of therapy and a way to escape the horrors of their recent past whilst having \u2018jolly good fun\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many clubs today still award a Clubman Award. Its not to the best player\/driver\/scorer, but it\u2019s the award for the person who turns up, gets involved, doesn\u2019t moan. In many sporting clubs, the \u2018Clubman Award\u2019 was THE award to win as it meant you\u2019d earned the respect of your peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018The Clubman\u2019 has, as we all know, spilled over into motorsport, not least the \u2018Clubbies\u2019 that form such an integral part of our club as we look towards 2023. Motorsport history of the 1940s and 50s is littered with \u2018Clubman\u2019 events on two wheels and four. Even the Isle of Man had a Junior and Senior Clubman TT category for production bikes that could be bought on the high-street one day and raced the next. I\u2019m really not sure that is all that different to the daring-do racers at Brooklands or a local Hillclimb whom might have bought an MG Midget, Austin 7 or similar with sporting intent in the 1920s or 30s and gone racing without any notion of ever actually winning! <\/p>\n\n\n Is that all that different to most of the entrants in the Adelaide Rally that starts next week, or indeed the Peter Hall Memorial 6 Hour or any round of the MSCA or Collingrove Hillcimbs? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Then of course, there are the Clubbies. With their direct link to Colin Chapman\u2019s game changing Lotus 7, when the motor racing technology advanced, people realised what the 7 offered amateur motor sport and an entire community developed around a class of car know affectionately as \u2018a clubman\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, what, really, is a clubman? Whilst the term is a little outdated (clubperson maybe?), its someone who participates simply for the joy of participating and the bonds of friendship it brings. Today I took an hour out of my day to help young Chris get his Mini (yes, it\u2019s a Clubman) running so he can, hopefully, come out and enjoy some of the events for next year. He tried to pay me and I\u2019m not sure he understands why I politely refused (he can buy me a coffee one day), as hopefully he can tag along and start to understand what is meant to be a \u2018clubman\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n Perhaps one day soon we might even get his actual Sprite or Midget up and running for club runs, but that might result in another story for here!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, I\u2019m sure that our friends from Clubbies SA are thinking this is an odd question, but it was posed to me by my lovely sister when discussing the possibility … Continue reading What is a \u2018Clubman\u2019?<\/span> <\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"