Datchworth Rugby Football Club

MINI MATTERS – Week 1

Sunday 2rd September 2018

Hello, to all Datchworth, Mini Section Coaches, Managers, Players, Parents and Supporters,

Well here we go again! We have just started our 49th season at Datchworth Rugby Club. Last season we were frustrated to lose 5 weekends to bad weather, so we are all hoping for some better luck for this season. We look forward to the new season with our new match-shirts and with good player numbers in every Mini age-group. Over the summer break several our coaching team have attended and secured the new England Rugby Coaching Award which will add depth and some new ideas to our coaching knowledge in several age-groups. The Mini Section season will follow a familiar pattern although we find ourselves playing away quite a lot over the first half of the season. In addition, many will notice some new training equipment in the container along with a chance to play on the new RFU funded Artificial Grass Pitch at Cheshunt Rugby Club. I will look forward to seeing you all over the weeks and months ahead and I am sure we will have another great season at Datchworth.

Mini Section 2018/19 Season Aims:

• To provide a high quality, safe and inclusive environment for young players to learn how to play Rugby Union. • To teach and embrace the age applicable laws, spirit and culture of Rugby Union • To give every Mini Section Rugby Player between the ages of 5 and 12 the chance to participate in regular structured training sessions, balanced Rugby Fixtures, Festivals, Tournaments and Tours.

Datchworth Rugby Football Club

• To promote our Club and to maintain a constant flow of capable young rugby players through the Club ideally providing squads of 22+ players to Youth Section at U13. • To encourage and give every player the chance to participate in Rugby Union to the best of their ability. • To celebrate success and be proud to be part of the proud legacy of a high achieving Village Club!

U6s and U7s Datchworth joint training Session

The new season got off to a great start for the U6/U7 age groups, with the sun shining and plenty of new faces trying rugby for the first time or progressing from Little Ruggers. We had 20 players across the age groups which was really positive for the season considering how many of the usual players were unavailable this week.

We started the morning with a gentle passing relay to get warmed up whilst everyone arrived. This was followed by a few rounds of stuck in the mud which was played at a frantic pace, aided by the dry pitch. We will make the most of conditions while they last!

Our next exercise was the try scoring relay where we aim to practice grounding the ball with both hands and picking it up again whilst running. Both tricky skills, but important within tag rugby and all the players did really well.

We then ran a passing drill to practice ball handling and running into space. The U7s showed they have clearly been training over the summer break with a really slick performance and the younger players really rose to the challenge of quite a technical exercise.

Finally, we finished with everyone's favourite game - Bulldog. Winners this week included Archie, Benji, Jessica, Samuel G and Millie and the first timers soon got the hang of looking for gaps and running through them.

We have a brand-new player of the week trophy this season and the coaches were delighted to award it to someone who consistently performs at a high level and this week displayed superb passing and was also in the winning groups in both rounds of Bulldog. Congratulations to Benji.

Many thanks also to the support of the parents who helped on Sunday morning for a great start to the year.

Datchworth Rugby Football Club

U8s Datchworth Training Session

It’s was great to be back in Datchworth and the sun was out to welcome us back. Our new u8s were clearly excited to be back and with a bigger pitch and team size to keep them interested, so it was straight down to business.

After a short warm up, we went straight into some skills focused around passing at the breakdown to get the ball out wide. Once the kids got the hang of it, we moved this into a game situation were the kids had to pass and pass again after the tag was made. On the whole, it all worked well.

Player of the week went to Lenny who always seems to put himself in exactly the right place to impact the game. A special mention goes to Bo for great running skills (we may need to put lead in his boots) and our new boy Finley who listened early well and then did exactly what was asked of him.

U9s Datchworth Training Session

We had a good turnout for our first training session. We focussed on two key areas - work rate and discipline. We worked on fitness by doing sprint exercises and drills that involved carrying the rugby ball and changing direction. The children also played netball rugby. We also revisited the basics of tackling from our ‘introduction to contact rugby’ sessions at the end of last season and the children took it in turns to use the tackle bag.

Congratulations to Theo, our first player of the week this season!

U10s Datchworth Training Session

Welcome back everyone... and hello to our new faces.

Really positive first session with our new Datchworth U10s - everyone seemed to blow the summer cobwebs away; putting Fortnite to one side as we concentrated on a refresh of tackling and built into rucking body positions moving the kids between a Game and Skill zone. Energy levels didn't drop which was great to see and there was some great movement, lots of tries and points awarded for technique and body position.

Congratulations to Aiden, player of the week at his first session at Datchworth session - I know all the coaches saw lots of other great play and behaviour.

Datchworth Rugby Football Club

U11s Datchworth Training Session

It was great to be back at Datchworth to begin the 2018/19 campaign. The boys had clearly “summered well” as there was a lot of huffing and puffing during even during the warm up! The theme of the session was on improving our passing skills focusing on accuracy of pass and keeping the body square to the target. Everyone put in a great effort considering the hot weather and Tom was given the man of the session continuing his excellent work from last season through to this year.

U12s Datchworth Training Session

The new under U12’s started out today with a reasonable turn out today despite a few people still on holiday. We had enough players to practice in the sun getting used to some of the U12 rules including 12-a-side teams and a second row in the scrum. We started off with a chat about the season, some fitness work, ball handling and then built up to rehearsing a full line up of forwards rucking and backs moves. George put in a notable performance arriving well after 11am and surely placing an early marker down for the Holt court!

YOUTH NEWS – Week 1

U13s Datchworth Training Session

The U13s assembled for the first time as a Youth Squad on Sunday and we were delighted to see three fresh faces; Joshua, Joey and Oliver will all be fantastic new additions to our squad. With only a few weeks to get in shape for an early friendly with Welwyn we have lots to work on. The tackle refresh was a good reminder of the basics but with competitive scrums introduced this year the forward boys approach and achievements in the first session was encouraging. We will look forward to hopefully seeing the full squad together on Sunday.

Girls Rugby at Datchworth

This Sunday was designed to be a gentle intro back in to the game. We will up the intensity a bit with each session in preparation for our first matches on 23rd September. I was really pleased overall, and I think we have a great group of players who have a lot of potential.

Grace - Made great progress in being able to receive a pass running a pace. This will be a key strength for her in attack. She did particularly well in the warm up games stealing bibs and avoiding being caught, demonstrating great awareness which is extremely useful during matches.

Datchworth Rugby Football Club

Jess - Made some great observations when we were talking about how we could improve their success with some of the games they were playing. Jess was confident moving forward with the ball with some strong runs and you could see her passing improve during the afternoon.

Lily - Showed huge improvement during the session. Lily is still very new to rugby and will have a big learning curve but we’ve already seen some areas where she will do very well. She’s a very strong runner with the ball and will definitely be someone who makes good progress for us up the middle of the field. She also has a very useful boot which we can put to good use.

Ruby - Great running lines in attack and she has a real ability to slip through the defence. I can see Ruby scoring many tries in future games leaving defenders wondering where they went wrong. Was also really pleased that she made a big effort to up the volume with her on field communication.

Sophia - Nice to see she hasn’t lost her love for a good tackle with a nice try saving dive during one of the games. I think she’ll be a solid defender within the squad and her in-game communication is improving all the time.

Senior Rugby:

The First XV kick-off their new Season at home against the once mighty London Welsh next Saturday afternoon at home at Datchworth please do come and support them if you can! Kick-Off will be at 3PM and there will not be many chances to see the Green Army take on London Welsh at Datchworth!

For those who are interested to hear about how London Welsh have come to be in our league here is a little of the recent history…. London Welsh Rugby Football Club was a professional rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the Aviva Premiership in the 2012– 13 and 2014–15 seasons, after gaining promotion from the RFU Championship in the 2012 and 2014 play-off final. The club returned to Old Deer Park in 2015 after three seasons at the Kassam Stadium, Oxford. The club went into liquidation in December 2016, being given a temporary licence to complete two fixtures in the Championship. On 24 January 2017 it was announced that London Welsh had been removed from the RFU Championship and their results expunged. The RFU stated that their place in the league was "untenable". London Welsh were then placed in the Herts / Middlesex 1 (tier 9) for Datchworth Rugby Football Club

Datchworth Rugby Football Club

the following 17/18 season having dropped 8 leagues as a result the liquidation! London Welsh have has contributed 177 players to the Wales national team and 43 players to the British and Irish Lions. Seven London Welsh players were selected for the 1971 tour to New Zealand (a Lions record which remains unbroken to this day): captain John Dawes (now London Welsh president), JPR Williams, Gerald Davies, Mervyn Davies, John Taylor (now Managing Director and ITV commentator), Mike Roberts and Geoff Evans.

Mini Mid-Week Training:

• Mid-week training resumes this week for all age-groups. We are aware that the plan detailed below does not work as well as hoped, these provisional arrangements may change to accommodate wishes where possible so at this stage this is the provisional arrangements going into the new season.

• In addition to the ‘home’ space at Datchworth we will have weekly access to the 5G artificial pitch and match quality flood lights at Cheshunt RFC every Thursday between 7 and 8. • Any squad with a 7 till 8 time-slot is allowed to start earlier if Coaches / Players are able to do-so. • All 7-8 sessions must end very promptly to give squads training 8-9 a full hour.

DRFC Mid-Week Training – Time & Pitch Space Allocations

Age Head Pitch Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Group Coach Space 7 till 9 7 till 8 8 till 9 7 till 8 8 till 9 Senior Ian Reid ½ Pitch Main 8-9 Sides Session U17 Simon Little ½ Pitch 8-9

U16 Phil Barnes ½ Pitch 7-8

U15 Tom Paine 1/3 Pitch 8-9

U14 Phil 1/3 Pitch 7-8 Nightingale U13 Andrew 1/3 Pitch 7-8 Howard U12 Warren 1/4 Pitch 7-8 Sullivan U11 Darren Hales 1/3 Pitch 8-9

U10 Danny Shurety 1/4 Pitch 6:30 to 7:30 U9 Pip Gray TBC TBC

Girls Phil Solomon TBC 7-8

Datchworth Rugby Football Club

Pitch Space Used / Available by Slot Full Pitch Full Pitch 1/3 1/3 Full Used Used available available Pitch Used

**While we finalise the plans and space allocation going forward the Girls Squad will share training space with the U12s,

Next Weekend –Car Parking Duty the U11s

Thanks to Warren and Mark Lewis for helping with the cones on the first 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 Arrangements:

• Next week the U17s are away – all other age groups are at home training as below:

Datchworth Rugby Football Club

Club Fixture News & Event Information:

Fixtures Plan – The first 10 Weeks - 2018/19 Season:

Mini Section Fixtures Card 2018/19

NB: In addition, we are likely to participate in Hertford Flood-Light Festivals – Dates TBC

Week Date Datchworth RFC Mini Section Parking Provisional 2018/19 Season Duty

Registration & First Training Day (mandatory) 1 2-Sep U12 + Pre Training Coaches Meeting @9AM 2 9-Sep Training at Datchworth (mandatory) U11 3 16-Sep Training at Datchworth (mandatory) U10 Mini Section Squad Photographs Day 4 23-Sep Training at Datchworth (mandatory) U9

Letchworth RFC FESTIVAL U7 & U8 & U9 TBC 5 30-Sep Youth Training at Datchworth U10 / U11 / U 12 6 Letchworth RFC CONTACT FESTIVAL – U10 to U12 TBC 7-Oct Youth Training at Datchworth U6 / U7 / U8 / U9 Chess Valley Vs Datchworth (Away) 7 14-Oct Youth

Fri 19th U12 – AGP – Festival @ Cheshunt Rugby Club N/A 8 Oct Luton RFC Vs Datchworth (Away) 21-Oct

9 Home Vs Stevenage TBC 28-Oct

Fri 2nd U11 – AGP – Festival @ Cheshunt Rugby Club N/A 10 Nov Tabard Vs Datchworth RFC (Away) 04-Nov Youth

Datchworth Rugby Football Club

DRFC Social Calendar - 2018/19 (49th Playing Season).

This Season we are hoping to enjoy an active social calendar and we are seeking to plan broadly ‘monthly’ events this Season as per feedback from last Season’s Survey. Some dates are yet to be finalised so look out for newsletters and posters in the Club House in respect of VP and Ladies Lunches:

Month Date(s) Club Event September NEXT Sat 8th Datchworth First XV Vs London Welsh Sept (DRFC Supporters Required)! @3PM

Fri 21st Sept DRFC Race Night in the Club House

October Events TBC

November Fri 16th Nov DRFC Inter Age-Group Quiz Night in the Club House

December Sun 23rd Dec Santas Grotto & Christmas Drinks

January Events TBC

February Sat 2nd Feb 6 Nations Games - Ireland V England 4:45 Big Screen & Big Atmosphere in the Club House Sun 10th Feb 6 Nations Games - England V France 3:00 Big Screen & Big Atmosphere in the Club House Sat 23rd Feb 6 Nations Games - Wales V England 4:45 Big Screen & Big Atmosphere in the Club House March Sat 9th March 6 Nations Games - England V Italy 4:45 Big Screen & Big Atmosphere in the Club House Sat 16th March 6 Nations Games - England V Scotland 5:00 Big Screen & Big Atmosphere in the Club House

April Fri 5th Apr Date TBC – Mini & Youth Dinner and Dance

12th to 14th Apr Holt Tour 2019 (U7s to U12s Rugby Tour Weekend)

May Sun 5th May Awards Day Presentation and Party

Datchworth Rugby Football Club

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 Club with each new 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 2018/19!

Have a great week and see you all soon, Best wishes, Andrew

Andrew Howard Chairman – Mini Section Datchworth Rugby Football Club

Datchworth Rugby Football Club