MINI MATTERS Week 7 Sunday 16 th October 2016 Hello Datchworth Mini Section Coaches, Managers, Players, Parents and Supporters, This Sunday the Mini Section all enjoyed a competitive fixture in the rain against Luton. Most of the age groups had good numbers and enjoyed a good morning of Rugby in challenging wet and cooler conditions. Next weekend we return to Datchworth for a training morning with part of the session given over to Coach Swap to share some best practice from within the Club. It will be busy again at the Club with a Youth match also taking place. If as many as possible can car-share or where possible walk next weekend that will be hugely helpful to manage the car-parking challenges at the Club. U6 Datchworth Training Raining hard, with the first appearance of proper autumn weather it was great to see a good turnout from the U6 group. 12 boys braved the conditions for a shortened but high intensity session. The group warmed up playing "Beans" and then reacting to the whistle to vary run speed and direction. This was followed by some running and passing drills. We noticed that the boys found passing and handling challenging in the damp so we concentrated on passing. One group beat the current passing record by completing 64 passes without dropping the ball. We then moved on to running through a cone pattern with the ball in two hands after catching a pass. The boys enjoyed this with Harry being the best at running the course as directed. We also included three games of "Bulldog" to practice running, line defence and tagging. The new addition to the group, Charlie, won two of these games with devastating turns of pace and a good eye for a gap. Wet but happy the boys listened well at the end of the session as we discussed how the session went. "Player of the day" was awarded to Charlie for a superb first outing at Datchworth with an honourable mention going to Harry for good listening and skills work during the training drills. U7 Luton away Three teams from our U7 squad enjoyed their second weekend of rugby fixtures away at Luton. All three teams were well matched and all of our U7 players gave an excellent account of themselves again this week in the cooler, wet weather! The children all seemed to enjoy the
experience and they all stuck with it despite the rain! As did the U7 Coaching team! Well done to all of the players, Nic, John and Pip... thanks all! U8 Luton away Datchworth U8's made their way to Luton in the driving rain, a huge thanks to you all for making your way to ensure we could field 3 strong teams and still have plenty of substitutes. Both Bletchley and Luton fielded one team each, it was obvious both opposing teams weren't as aware of the offside rule but all the coaches made every effort to keep the players in check. Our training sessions shone through today, players keeping to their channels, looking for space, supporting on the shoulder. All the coaches agreed post session just how well the players had done and the progress being made. The player that stood out above the rest was Max Willis, well done Max, sheer determination, communication and great try scoring ensured you were our player of the week today. U9 Luton away Well done to all the kids and parents for braving the first testing morning of the season with some very inclement weather. We had 20 plus kids turn out & lent Luton some players so we could run 2 games and keep the kids all moving in the chilly conditions. Good on the Datchworth players that played for the opposition as they all competed with the right attitude. The quality of rugby was excellent considering and not one complaint was heard from the children so well done to all. Tackling was strong with some real commitment and aggression being shown. In attack we saw strong running but we still would like to see some more passing to create space for others. A good mornings rugby had by all and the sun even came out as we were finishing to warm everyone up! U10 Luton away The Under 10's turned up in the heavy rain for what ended up being a three way fixture against Luton and Bletchley. We had just enough for two teams so split up and started with a couple of games against Luton. Our green team started off well and managed to hold it to a draw in the first half, and win the second half ending up 6-3. The blues however got off to really slow start with a lack of tackling and rucking, letting Luton dominate the first half. However they managed to play much better in the second half, with a fine late try by Sophia at the end to give the team some cheer albeit ending 1-11. From then on the whole team really got motivated to take on the big and very physical Luton side. The second green game was a tense and low scoring affair, with our team taking a lot of contact but standing up to it and playing well in response. We only lost out 0-1 to a late try down the wing from
Luton. The blues played Bletchley and put in a great performance to narrowly lose the first half but then edge it in the second. We also put in a fantastic effort the for last couple of games against Luton and the greens managed to have a cracking second half turning around a half time deficit into a win, particularly great play from Troy S and Tom P, and a win for the blues too. All in all an improved performance compared to the same fixture last year, but much more importantly really impressive determination across the whole team, brave tackling, discipline, great camaraderie and respect from all of them. We were all very proud of you U10s today, well done! U11 Luton away The U11s had a strong showing of 18 boys despite the wet conditions on Sunday. A quick but fairly intense warm up using the useful embankment at Luton was a precursor to a series of 7 games split between our two sides and a couple of Baa-Baa games with a small group of St Albans boys. The Luton squad certainly hadn t got any smaller in the last twelve months and again the Datchworth teams were facing a tough morning against a very physical, well drilled and large, (infact huge), Luton squad. Over the course of the morning the Datchworth squad won one against Luton and one against the St Albans Baa-Baa side; the other games all went to Luton. In cold and wet conditions against fairly intimidating opponents the squad gave a great account of themselves and to come away with a win against this calibre of opposition is a real achievement for the boys involved to be proud of. We found out in the Clubhouse that Luton s A side has recently beaten OAs A side! This week a number of players worked really very hard; those specially recognised were, Alick Broster, James Bedford, Kyle Haskett and Thomas Howard. In addition to these four boys Kobie Richmond and Mackenzie Ellis both had good mornings and we saw some more powerful running from Fabian Tank Whitfield. We lost a few players to injury this week, (El liot Clifford and Ronan Hawes), and we wish them both a speedy recovery. All of the boys deserve a mention this week they all played with such heart so this the U11 legends week were; Morgan MacGillivray, Jack Ingram, Alex Donovan, Fabian Whitfield, Lucas Viduez, Harry King, Thomas Moore, Thomas Howard, Mackenzie Ellis, Kobie Richmond, Ronan Hawes, Elliot Clifford, Kyle Haskett, Oli Griffin, Theo Tilley, Alick Broster, James Bedford and Arthur Stanbrook...well done to you all... We have lots to work on at Training next week at Datchworth it will be great to be back at home having had some lessons learnt in a match environment to work on next Sunday. U12 Luton A wet and somewhat overcast morning greeted those from Datchworth whose Sat Navs were not over confused by the new road layout at the A1081 junction off the M1!! The far slope of Luton s ground was put to good use by Coach Ben for warming the boys up. Datchworth were the only team present who could put out a full 12 man team, so it was decided that to keep everyone playing teams of 8, two from Datchworth and one each from Luton and St Albans, would play an 8-a-side round robin. Datchworth dutifully split our squad into two equal strength teams, while Luton picked their 8 and St Albans played their squad. The results were as follows;
Datchworth Blues 1 v. 8 Luton Datchworth Green 7 v. 0 St Albans Datchworth Blue 5 v. 4 St Albans Datchworth Green 1 v. 4 Luton Finally Datchworth then played Luton in a 12-a-side match, to proper U12 rules. This turned into a feisty encounter. The Datchworth boys began to channel their aggression into tackling low, hitting the rucks at pace and running hard into the tackle with ball in hand. After being handed an advantage following a sending off from the Luton team; Datchworth could not make their numerical advantage count, and we lost a hard fought game 2 3. None of the Datchworth team took a step back in the face of some aggressive Luton play. Indeed the team spirit shown by the boys, as they almost literally fought for each other, is to be commended! Jason and Icarus are both at Saracens on Wednesday, leaning how the professionals plan and run a warm up, but Mark and Chris will be running the mid-week session as usual. Sunday is training at Datchworth, 10.00hrs for warmup, 10:30-12:00hrs Training and 12:00hrs onwards in the clubhouse. A coach from the U-13s will be taking part of the session next week, to give us some pointers as to what they found worked well for them when they were U12s last season. Senior Rugby Datchworth First XV had a weekend break this week; the boys are playing at home against Grasshoppers next Saturday the 22 nd October which is also a VP lunch weekend. The 3 rd XV meanwhile recorded an impressive home win against Bishops Stortford 5 th XV; with at least two Mini Section Coaches playing this weekend... Well done to Dave Gore, (on debut), for Datchworth in the second row and John McGinty at full-back. Youth Section Arrangements next Sunday: U13 Training (Village Hall / Pitch 4) U14 - Watford (home pool match) - 11am (Pitch 1) U15 Training (Village Hall / Pitch 4) U16 - Away Friendly vs Barnet U18 Training (TBC / Pitch 2 space as required) Mid-week Training Continues on Wednesday 19 th October Mid-week Training arrangements are as follows: Minis U9 & U10 Weds 7.00 to 8.00 pm Minis U11 & U12 Weds 7.30 to 8.30 pm Youth U13 - Weds 6.30 to 7.30 pm Youth U14 - Weds 6.30 to 7.30 pm
Youth U15 - Thurs 7.30 to 8.30 pm Youth U16 - Thurs 7.30 to 8.30 pm Youth U18 - Training with the seniors Next Weekend Car Parking Duty The car park duty will be undertaken by the U8s next week, it will be a very busy morning with Youth training and a match taking place so please support the U8 volunteers if you can. Pitch Allocation Sunday 23rd h October Club Photographs Other Club News & Information Sample Pictures of both Mini and Youth Age groups are on their way and will hopefully be available to view at Datchworth training. Minis section Tour To Norfolk, April 2016 Date in the Diary the 7 9 th April 2016. Forms are now with your age group team manager so please..book early! Avoid the rush! Please do not hesitate to email Nicola any questions about the tour, mrsnicolahoward@outlook.com. Nicola will be at the club house this Sunday for any questions and form collecting!
Forth coming Fixtures & Events Week Date Datchworth RFC Mini Section 2016/17 Season Parking Duty 8 23-Oct Training at Datchworth Coach Swap Weekend U8s 9 30-Oct Away Fixture Vs Leighton Buzzard All Minis U16s 10 06-Nov Away Fixture V Welwyn RFC All Minis U18s 11 13-Nov Training at Datchworth U7s 12 20-Nov Away Fixture V Enfield Ignations all Minis U14s 13 27-Nov Training at Datchworth U12s 14 04-Dec Confirmed Home Fixture V Tabard All Minis Tabard Fixtures Sec - U11s Closing Notes It was our first weekend this season of wet and cold weather and for the most part that didn t put anyone off! I think most of the Mini Section are looking forward to a training weekend back at Datchworth next week before our long range fixture away at Leighton Buzzard the following Sunday. Please keep ordering the Club Squad photos and considering booking up to join the Mini Tour in Holt. Have a great week and see you all on Wednesday or next Sunday. Best wishes, Andrew Andrew Howard Chairman Mini Section
Team Photograph Order Form The 2016/17 Season Official Squad Photographs of your team are now available to order. They are provided as high quality card mounted prints (8 x 12 ). If you would like to order your teams photograph please complete this form and return to your Age Group manager or to Nicola Howard with Payment, by Sunday 06 th November. 1 x print = 10 2 x prints = 18 3 x prints = 25 Player(s) Full Name Age Group Squad Picture Number required Total(s) Total payable Contact details Parent/carers Name Contact Phone number Email address Payment Thank you Please provide payment with this order form cash or cheque made payable to; Datchworth RFC