Datchworth Rugby Football Club. MINI MATTERS Week 1. Hello Datchworth Mini Section Coaches, Managers, Players, Parents and Supporters,

Transcription

1 MINI MATTERS Week 1 Sunday 3 rd September 2017 Hello Datchworth Mini Section Coaches, Managers, Players, Parents and Supporters, After a four month break over the summer we finally made it back for the start of the new Mini Rugby season at Datchworth; the early registration session seemed to work well in getting people signed up for the Season ahead. It was great to see some new children and parents at the Club, thank you for choosing Datchworth and we hope you have a great Rugby experience with us. It was also of course great to welcome back so many familiar faces for another Season. With lots of new kit ready and issued, (see picture), and the First Team posts erected after training we are all set for the Season ahead... this is the news from Week 1! U6s and U7s Datchworth Training Session Wow, what a great start to the new season with 24 kids including our new four girls turning out for training. The new under 6s joined our returning under 7s along with the equipment fairy being so generous in providing lots of new gear, we had a fab session. We started by running through some of the rules for both parents, the U6s and a little reminder for the U7s, but then wasted no time in getting straight to some running games which focused on getting the kids to keep their heads up and avoid obstacles, with a roll off a tackle pad on the return leg, it was clear the kids were having fun. We then moved onto some ball skills with some running and passing drills and finally some tagging and passing. The u6s did a great job getting stuck in and did a great job keeping up. We finally finished with a game of bulldog which all the kids and joining parents really enjoyed. We are still on the hunt for some coaches to look after the U6s and also a manger for the U6 team. Any parents, who are willing to get involved or would like to know what is involved, please Sally or Andrew or speak to either next weekend. The U7s will be playing away matches from October and we don't want to be in a position where there is no one to hold the sessions when they are away. All the coaches who started last year would really recommend it as it's been great fun and really rewarding watching the kids skills grow week on week.

2 U8s Datchworth Training Session What a great start to the new season! A good number of boys and girls settled in well to the start of 3 weeks of training, it was also lovely to see some new faces! Our focus this week was reminding the children's brains of all the basics we have been working on for 2 years! For some of them it was like they had never been away, for others the rust took a little while to go. Key areas of movement, tagging, passing, as well as attacking and defending were covered. It also appears the children like the bigger pitch size. Long may this continue! Congratulations to Casey, our first player of the match this season! U9s Datchworth Training Session Welcome back to rugby! It was good to see not all was forgotten over the 6 weeks holidays since Friday contact ready! A huge thank you to everyone for a great first session on the season, strong numbers, good weather and an extremely well-organized session. The drills continue to instil safe contact with the appropriate discipline required to ensure safe and fun play. A little bit of ring rust as you would expect, however, we are sure everything will click as the weeks go on. What was most pleasing was the drills around space and pop passing, players took that into the games - great to see!

3 A much-deserved Player of the Week went to George Cameron - great listening skills, putting concentration in practice with the drills and contact games at the end of the session. U10s Datchworth Training Session The U10s had a great first session of the new season with a few players still enjoying the end of the summer holidays it was great to have the numbers bolstered by 4 new joiners. The focus of the session was on refreshing some skills and introducing the new rules. For this year. Everyone worked extremely well and it was great to see the new guys fit in quickly and start enjoying their rugby straight out of the blocks. The session finished with a controlled game where the skills and standards where excellent which bodes well for the first session of the season considering the long break from rugby the guys have had. Owen deservedly won the man of the match for committed and determined work throughout the session. U11s Datchworth Training Session The new Under 11's got off to a great start today, with a total of 22 kids training which is the biggest number we've had for a long time including several new players. That's thanks to a combination of the effort Phil Solomon is putting in to build a girls' section, plus welcoming a couple of new faces and the return of Myles Presence. Today we focused on handling skills. We also had a run through some backs moves and scrum introducing the hooker striking for the ball. This then lead into a game of touch and finally a short contact game, alongside some tackling training for the newer players. Over the next weeks we'll be focusing on including more of the new U11 rules. All in all a very positive start - welcome everyone. U12s Datchworth Training Session The U12s had a good turnout of 18 boys on Sunday with at least 3 more expected to return to the squad. With the U12s comes another step-up to 12 aside rugby; the chance to fend-off and the introduction of the 5 man scrum. Following a warm up and run through of the law changes the boys were split down into a Forwards and Backs training group with some more targeted drills to start

4 their transition to the bigger format game. The players all enjoyed the new laws and the coaches were encouraged by the reasonable quality on show during the drills and training game this week. Maintaining the theme from the other age groups this was a very positive start to the U12 season! Girls Rugby at Datchworth... I know many have already seen this note but I am keen to share... We have some exciting Datchworth RFC news to share with you. From the start of the 2018 season, Girls Youth Rugby will be returning to our club. This is especially great news for all girls currently in our minis section for the coming season, as they will now be able to remain with the club throughout their rugby playing life. Given our ambitions to build girls rugby within our club we want to reach out to all our members for help. We want to encourage all sisters, daughters, friends... loose acquaintances, to join us in the U6's through to U11 squads for the coming season. All age groups are important but we are particularly keen to welcome girls moving into the U11's (year 6) this year. These girls will form the basis of our first all-girl youth squad for Girls Rugby Week 1... A great start to the season from a Girls Youth perspective. For those that don t yet know, Datchworth are building to launch its first Girls Youth team for many years from the start of next season. Our focus in on building our girls numbers in the u11s as these will form the basis of the team next year. We had 4 new girl joiners today and are expecting many more as the season progresses. It s also great to see girls joining in the other age groups too which means Datchworth is building towards a sustainable girls youth section for the years to come. Here s a photo of some of the girls across 3 age groups as they enjoy a post training chat and burger at the clubhouse (Lola, Emma, Sophia, Zara and Olivia). A very big welcome to all the new girls!

5 Senior Rugby: The First XV kick-off their new Season at home against newly promoted Verulanium on Saturday afternoon before heading early in the Season for the local derby with Welwyn... Do come and support them if you can! Mini Mid-Week Training: Mid week training resumes for the U10s, U11s and U12s this Wednesday 6 th Sept as below; the U9s will kick off their mid week sessions on Wednesday 13 th Sept Age Group Time / Date / Location Notes U9s 7 till 8 PM from 13 th Sept Flood lit training pitch Age Groups to advise U10s 7 till 8 PM from 6 th Sept Flood lit training pitch Age Groups to advise U11s 7 till 8 PM from 6 th Sept Flood lit training pitch Age Groups to advise U12s 7:30 till 8:30 PM from 6 th Sept Flood lit training pitch Age Groups to advise Next Weekend Car Parking Duty Sincere thanks to Parking Legend Mark Felton for helping put out the cones despite being locked out of the cone shed...and of course to all of the U12 volunteers who helped manage Car Parking on Sunday morning. There were no reported issues this week and I understand we had good use of the Village Hall, Turkey Farm and Club Car Parks - Next weekend the U11s are on Car Parking Duty. Next Weekend s Mini Arrangements: Next week the U16s & U17s are both away all other age groups are at home training as below: DATCHWORTH RFC Mini Section 10 th September 2017 Datchworth Training (10-12) First XV Pitch

6 Other Club News & Event Information: Minis section Tour To Norfolk, th April 2018 Forms for the Tour (U7 U12) will soon be available, book your places early, last year was a complete sell out with a waiting list! This year we will be collecting deposits much earlier to try and avoid the expensive Christmas period. Fixtures Plan The first 10 Week /18 Season: Week Date Datchworth RFC Mini Section Provisional 17/18 Season Parking Duty 1 3-Sep 2 10-Sep 3 17-Sep 4 24-Sep 5 1-Oct 6 8-Oct Registration & First Training Day (mandatory) + Pre Training Coaches Training at Datchworth (mandatory) Training at Datchworth (mandatory) Mini Section Squad Photographs Day TBC Training at Datchworth (mandatory) Letchworth RFC FESTIVAL U7 & U8 & U9 Letchworth RFC CONTACT FESTIVAL U10 to U12 U12s U11s U10s U9s U17s U15s 7 15-Oct DRFC Minis Vs Luton at Datchworth Confirmed U Oct Away Vs Welwyn Rugby Club Youth TBC 9 29-Oct Training at Datchworth U Nov DRFC Minis V Enfield Ignations at Datchworth Confirmed U12

7 Closing Notes It was good to see everyone back at Datchworth on Sunday... I hope we can all enjoy another successful season as we continue to build the fabric of our Club with each Season that passes. We are always interested in new sponsors or ideas to take the club forward please feel free to get in touch with any suggestions for the Season ahead. Please also look out for information over the coming weeks about events and activities. We will again build on our 1-Club mantra co-operate closely with both the Youth and Senior Sections wherever we can. Let s enjoy another great season in 2017/18! Have a great week and see you all on Wednesday or next Sunday. Best wishes, Andrew Andrew Howard Chairman Mini Section