Mini's and Juniors

Welcome!

This is only our third year for the club to venture into Mini/Junior Rugby and although the first 2 years have been a steep learning curve the progress has surpassed everyone’s expectations; due, in no small part, to the hard work of our Mini/Junior committee, coaches, parents and with great help the club. Last year the teams played against a good selection of clubs and the players have pleased the coaches with their skills and progress. This standard of rugby is aimed at teaching new skills, developing the individual and team spirit; it is not about winning in these early years but the child’s development. We are striving for is fun experience for both children and the family and we openly encourage the family to come along for matches and training to join in with the experience. Team sports will bring out the individual, improve self-confidence, awareness and add to general overall fitness. This process must be an improvement on the very insular activity of just sitting in front of a game consul for hours on end. Let’s get all the family out there, get a bit of fresh air in those lungs and have a fun day.

Minis Section

From the age of 6 both boys and girls can play Mini rugby as mixed teams and can continue to do so up to Junior rugby level. These mixed teams play Tag rugby up to the Under 8 stage. Contact rugby is then played for Under 9 and older age groups.

Junior Section

Junior rugby starts at Under 13s and at this stage mixed rugby gets a bit complicated and boys and girls within teams start to separate. "Girls are permitted to play mixed rugby up to and during the season in which they are Under 12 as of 1st September." Female rugby is quite strong in Wales so there's no reason for the girls to not continue their rugby through the Junior section and on. This year we field an Under 13s team within a full fixture list.

Fixture

Great strides have been made after our first season where fixtures were somewhat ad hoc. Last season we seen over 120 matches arranged for teams of Under 7s up to the Under 13s. A lot of work by the Fixture Secretary, Craig Pritchard, has seen this develop into a fully structured season of fixtures. Contact the Fixture Secretary for all fixture matters.

Protections

There is a Child Protection Policy in place and all coaches, players and spectators are covered by a Code of Conduct. All staff involved with the Minis/Juniors are DBS checked. (Formally known as CRB)

Staff Training

We are fully committed to get the best available personnel we can to manage the different roles needed in this section of the club. To that end we have continued with various training courses for our Mini/Junior staff. This has included WRU coaching courses, WRU refereeing courses and St John's Ambulance first aid courses but is by no mean limited to these. Whatever needs to be covered will be noted and appropriate training undertaken and applied.

Teams

This year we are running Under 7s, Under 8s, Under 9s, Under 10s, Under 11s and Under 13s teams which is two extra age groups from what we started with only 2 years ago. This shows the application of the commitment originally outlined to increase numbers at the club; we will add more teams as numbers increase. All age groups, both boys and girls, are welcome; come along and look at the set-up for yourselves, we are a friendly and enthusiastic club. A year is not that long in sport and soon our Under 7s will be the Under 8s, etc. so come along join in the fun now; don’t miss out on the opportunity.

Registration

Please contact the Mini/Junior Secretary for forms to register new players.