somerset rugby development newsletter...major boost to rugby youth development in east bath. in a...
TRANSCRIPT
Somerset Rugby Development Newsletter
Welcome to the sixteenth instalment. Season’s Greetings to you all!
CLUB FEATURE– Sharing Good Practice The ‘Club Feature’ allows you to know what is working for
other Somerset clubs; recruitment drives, social events, money-making projects, anything that is worth
sharing because it could make a difference at your club. For many clubs it’s a continuous challenge to
integrate the mini-junior section with the seniors as they both play on different days; however
Keynsham RFC have recently had a “One KRFC Day”.
Bath U13 & U15 Girls Sessions
Monday nights fortnightly @
Lambridge 9th Dec, 16th Dec (Extra session before Christmas),
13th Jan and 27th Jan. Further dates TBC in the New Year!
Club Leaders-Mentors available
The Club Leaders programme is here to help with the business side of
things, providing FREE support in the form of online modules, toolkits
and seminars which cover a range of topics from marketing to tax
obligations.
“Our mentor didn’t instruct, but support; guiding people in the right
direction while making sure they stay in control of the club themselves,”
said Jim Haywood, Chair of Directors at Sutton Coldfield RFC.
If your club needs guidance on a specific area of club development check
out the online resources or request a Club Leader's mentor
http://www.rfu.com/managingrugby/clubdevelopment/clubleaders
For more info contact Alex Thompson, RFU Club Management &
Governance Officer Telephone: 07894 489 756 or Email:
CLARIFICATION; Regulation 15.13.3 states that players of all age grades are permitted to wear
spectacles, glasses or specifically designed sports goggles in all forms of non-contact rugby but NOT in any form of contact rugby. This means that U9s and above are not permitted to wear any eye wear when
playing contact rugby.
The club wanted to provide an opportunity for the seniors and
mini/junior section to meet each other and understand what each bring
to the club. On the 2nd
of November, when the 1st XV were playing at
home, the minis turned up in large numbers to perform a guard of
honour for the 1st XV team receiving a few high fives during their run
onto the pitch (of course in the true spirit of rugby the opposition and
the referee also ran through their tunnel!). The week before the seniors
assisted regular coaches at the mini/junior training sessions.
The day was a great success and it is hoped will be repeated annually -
notable comments were:
U8 player - 'I love this place - this is brilliant!’
1st XV player - 'I can't believe how they (the mini players) look up to us -
they were in awe of us coming to help at training and the tunnel was
something special'.
On 2nd
Nov the BBQ was going all afternoon,
there was a climbing wall for the younger
players to try out their mountaineering skills
and a cross bar challenge took place during
half time featuring the juniors.
Any athlete with suspected concussion should be
IMMEDIATELY REMOVED FROM PLAY and should not return
until assessed medically.
RECOGNIZE – 1. Visible Clues eg loss of consciousness 2. Signs & Symptoms
eg Nausea/Vomiting 3. Memory Function eg What venue are we at today?
For more info go to http://www.rfu.com/headcase#
This year’s NatWest RugbyForce will take place from Saturday 21st to Sunday 22nd June.
Register here by 17th Jan www.rfu.com/NatwestRugbyForce for your chance to be selected to
attend a workshop and win £500. If you are successful at this stage you can then apply for an
additional £1000 or £2000 to improve your club. Last season Imperial, Avonvale, Chard,
Hornets and Cheddar were successful, with the former two winning the additional funding.
The 1st4sport Level 1&2 Certificate in
Coaching Strength and Conditioning
for Sport is designed to provide
candidates with the level of knowledge
needed to build and lead well-
constructed strength and conditioning
programmes through an understanding of
how to plan, conduct and evaluate sessions.
Numerous dates at Wellington &
Gloucestershire next year -
http://www.excelsiorgroup.co.uk/page
/strength-conditioning-course
Major boost to Rugby youth development in East Bath.
In a city such as Bath the sport of rugby is second nature to many and now none more so than the students at St Mark’s
School (Larkhall). They have recently seen a dramatic increase in the number of students playing the game, both male and
female, as a result of an exciting partnership with their local rugby club and the RFU.
The RFU have provided funding to supply new kits to the lower and upper school A Teams as well as coaching for the girl’s
rugby squad. This donation, along with a new collaborative partnership with Avon Rugby Club, who have agreed to supply
free training/playing facilities at their club, provides a major boost to youth rugby in the east of Bath.
Head of PE, Steve Leonard comments that “The RFU and Avon RFC have been very supportive of our ambitions and through
their support our teams can now compete wearing the latest kits and using first class facilities, everyone is really excited to
have our own ‘home’ facility.”
We have been working with our longstanding partner O2
to develop a special offer for wifi making the cost to all
RFU member clubs as low as possible. With the RFU O2
Wifi offer you pay just £30 per month on a 36 month
contract with no set up or registration fees, saving over
£1,700 over three years.
For more information o2wifirfuclubs.com
Congratulations to Midsomer Norton RFC
who have gained £50K from Sport England to
purchase new land alongside their current
pitches. Chairman Neil Denning has led the club
to make a successful bid to the Protecting
Playing Fields scheme, a fund set up as part of
the Olympic Legacy. A central part of the bid
was the relationship between rugby and
football in the town and the new land will
create one new football pitch as well as 2 new
mini pitches and 2 midi pitches, which will ease
the amount of usage on the main training
area’s. Neil, who joined the club at just 15, had
this to say “We are delighted that Sport England
has approved funding allowing us to purchase
additional land at Norton Down. These
improvements, along with the guarantee of a
protection for at least 25 years, means that this
sports facility can be enjoyed by our community
for many years to come.”
Tor RFC re-launch their Junior Section In recent weeks Tor have been working hard to
attract new players to club training on Sunday
mornings. With RFU support the club held two school
fixtures on Thurs 28th Nov at Year 8 & 9 between St
Dunstan’s and Crispin schools. 65 boys had a great
game of rugby followed by food in the clubhouse
supplied for free by the club. The next Sunday the
club had 7 new players turn up for training, making
their U13/U14 squad total 12 players. A great
example of club-school links and how to launch new
teams effectively.
Old Culverhaysians RFC is the latest
Bath based club to be awarded the
prestigious RFU Club Accreditation
“Gaining the RFU Club Accreditation has confirmed
our commitment to the development of local
community rugby at Old Culverhaysians RFC” says
Mike Harding, Club Chairman.
Both Year 8 squads under the posts after their game
Club President Martin Lynch receives the certificate &
plaque from Julie Swann at the BANES cluster meeting
Also Achieving Accreditation since September are; COMBE DOWN RFC and HORNETS RFC
Successfully completing their 1 year Healthcheck are FROME RFC, GORDANO RFC, IVEL
BARBARIANS RFC and OLDFIELD OLD BOYS – Congratulations all!
REMINDER! All RFU course bookings for
coaching, refereeing and safeguarding
must now be done online at:
www.rfu.com/takingpart/olcb
The England rose is an official registered trade mark of the Rugby Football Union and is the subject of extensive trade mark registrations worldwide.
Congratulations to Walcot RFC who have gained £23,099 from the RFU as a 50% contribution
to new training floodlights. One of the conditions of the award was for the club to remain working
with Bath University to offer their social players continued opportunities to play rugby. Chairman
Alan Book said “"They will be vital in providing a much better training experience for all of our
players, including those from Bath University and Bath Spa University. They will help us to
improve the wear and tear on our pitches, and allow us to host floodlit evening matches. We are
really looking forward to be able to use them."
Ever thought about developing a
Coaching Corner on your website?
Check out Combe Down’s for inspiration:
http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/combed
own/a/coaches-corner-36617.html -
SOMERSET STORMING GROWTH OF GIRLS
Somerset have seen a remarkable growth in girls
rugby in the last few seasons and the rise of the
game looks set to continue across the county
with 5 new U13 teams so far this season. On
Sun 10th Nov Burnham on Sea RFC hosted all 5
squads in a festival designed to offer the girls a
fun introduction to the game. In sunny conditions
9 teams each played four 7 aside games and
displayed a remarkable skill level and confidence
for such new players. The coaches agreed not to
keep scores and a ‘Sportsmanship’ award was
awarded to one player per team for
demonstrating teamwork and fair play.
Somerset clubs in attendance were Gordano
RFC, Minehead RFC, Bath RFC, Castle Cary
RFC and Hornets RFC. They were joined by
Drybrook RFC from Gloucestershire and two
Devon sides, Exeter Saracens RFC and Newton
Abbot RFC.
Head Coach of Gordano Neil Steer said of the
day, ‘It was encouraging to see the enthusiasm
from the girls and exciting to see the way in
which they improved every game they played.
The Gordano ladies team are very supportive of
the girls sessions and hope these players will
succeed them in the years to come’. Chelsea
Howard a Minehead U13s player said "I thought
it was amazing and I liked playing all the
matches against new teams. It was a nice
opportunity to travel away together as a U13s
team seeing some of the new girls having fun
playing their first match even scoring the odd try".
Drybrook (with ball) vs. Minehead