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Junior Rugby Home |
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Welcome to the Junior Section for Chester RUFC.
To view Team Information please use the right hand menu.
Welcome to the 2008/09 Season at Chester RUFC Minis & Juniors
For those players and parents who are new to youth rugby or to Chester RUFC, the following pages provide a brief guide to the Youth Section set up at Hare Lane.
New players are always welcome. Rugby is one of the most popular and enjoyable team games a youngster can play, with tremendous benefits for promoting personal development, sports skills and fitness. All players are coached and play in teams according to age groups as determined by school year. For example, Under 9s players will be in Year 4 and have their 9th birthday between 1st September 2008 and 31st August 2009.
Age Groups
The Youth Section has teams at all age groups from Under 7s right through to Colts aged 17 or 18. The playing and training programme closely follows the RFU Continuum and emphasis is firmly placed on young players enjoying rugby and developing skills in an inclusive, family orientated atmosphere. Over the last few years we have introduced a U6s year group where no fixtures are played but there is an introduction to basic rugby skills ready for next year's Under 7s. The RFU Continuum is a national programme followed by all rugby clubs to ensure young players acquire rugby skills and can enjoy the game in a phased introduction to handling, contact, tackling and kicking. Due regard is given to physical and conceptual development. Under 7s & Under 8s play tag (non-contact tackling) rugby; tackling and non-contested scrums are introduced at Under 9s level and limited contested scrums and lineouts at Under 10s. The number of players and size of pitches increase through the range of age groups. The Minis' Section comprise of all age groups up to and including Under 12s. Junior rugby is a term generally applied to Under 13s through to Under 16s and Colts.
Training & Fixtures
Each season commences on the first Sunday in September. All youth rugby is played on a Sunday, although junior age groups and the older Minis age groups organise mid-week training sessions. On Sundays, all training sessions commence at 10.30 a.m. A number of fixtures against local and regional clubs also take place during the season. The RFU Continuum lays down the maximum number of competitive games Minis & Junior can play during the season, (more so with Minis players). For Minis, the ratio is in the order of one match to two training sessions. There are no competitive fixtures for Minis during September. Fixture lists can and do vary at short notice. Your age group coach will have details of fixtures, and a provisional fixture list can be found in Club Membership handbook. As with training, all home fixtures start at 10.30 am. Again, your age group coach will give you details of any arrangements for transport to away matches, but the general rule is that parents will either make their own way to the venue, or meet at Hare Lane at an appropriate time to share transport and/or travel in convoy. As a general rule, all training and matches take place on the training pitches (a short walk left out the club and across the dual-carriageway road bridge). Please park your car in the main club car park as leaving your car on Hare Lane can cause an obstruction. Overflow parking can be found behind the main stand. Under no circumstances should cars be parked on the pitch access road. A pitch and changing room allocation plan should be on the noticeboard in the foyer each Sunday. Wherever possible, details of fixtures and directions to clubs are posted on the Minis' Page of the club website www.chester-rufc.com A qualified coach or coaches lead each age group, and parents are always encouraged to help and assist. Some teams in the youth section have as many as 30+ young players, so any assistance offered will be gratefully received. Most - if not all - coaches are parents themselves and many started by being interested parents on the touchline. Parents are expected to stay and watch (or remain in the Clubhouse). Hot food, drinks & Sunday papers are available. Most players, parents & spectators stay for hot food & drinks after matches or training sessions. The bar is open from 1200 hrs. There is a shop within the Clubhouse that caters for all kit and equipment needs.
New Players
New players are always encouraged to come along for a couple of weeks to determine whether they enjoy playing rugby before any membership fees are expected or money is spent on rugby kit. All that is required to begin with is a pair of boots and training kit (including warm and wet-weather clothing). The RFU, Chester RUFC and all coaches strongly advise young players to wear mouthguards when playing contact rugby. Your age group coach will be pleased to advise you further.
Club Welfare
The Chester RUFC child protection policy and Codes of Conduct for parents and players can be found on the noticeboard and also on the Club website www.chester-rufc.com
For any additional information on Minis or Junior rugby, please do not hesitate to speak with your age group coach, Youth Managers John Armstrong or Pete Craven or Minis' Manager Steve Bate. We are always keen to involve parents to assist in the running of the Youth Section. If you would like to help in any way - just ask! Main Contacts (All Team contacts can be found in the team sections on the right hand menu)
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