Old Belvedere Mini Rugby Review for 2009/10
Congratulations to the First XV and all the support staff on qualifying for Division 1A of the AIL League.
We welcome the new sponsors of the Mini section “Collins Stewart” and look forward to working with them for the forthcoming season.
Another very successful season culminated in our annual Mothers v Children and BBQ event on April 25th , and we all were under the illusion that the aggression and competitive edge came from the Dads.
Sincere thanks must be extended to our President Dave Hargaden and his ‘cabinet’ for their continued support of what we are trying to achieve at the Minis level. Hopefully we can be responsible for increasing the numbers of children ultimately coming back to the club to play their Senior club rugby. We also wish John Mahony the very best of luck in his tenure as President for the forthcoming season and look forward to working with him and the rest of the committee.
The season has been a huge success for Mini’s and below I have highlighted some interesting facts relating the 2009/2010 rugby year.
We have 370 registered and 330 active “Mini” players ranging from the U6’s to the U13’s. There are eight head coaches and 62 assistant coaches organising and training the kids each Sunday, and without their help and dedication the Mini’s system would not function. We played a total of 306 matches last season (including Blitz’s) and won a very creditable 82% of them. But more importantly the kids enjoyed playing them, the coaches enjoyed seeing the fruits of their labour and the parents enjoyed the day.
Our Blitz entertained 140 teams with more than 1500 players involved in matches held over a two day period in Anglesea Road. A big thank you to all involved.
Two major changes were introduced in the Mini structure not just in Belvo but throughout Ireland last year. Firstly, there was a changing of the age limit back to January instead of July, this meant a lot of restructuring of the age levels to accommodate more/less kids, and secondly, all matches including cup, league and Blitzes were played in a non competitive manner with no winners or losers.
Lastly the Minis are forever indebted to the dedication and commitment of its administrator Jacqui Holmes, her tireless “can do” attitude is a pleasure to work with and we are very lucky to have secured her again for next season.
With the exception of the new intake at U6 level we are almost completely full for the upcoming season.