Junior Leagues - full speed for the iceberg!

Details about next season's RFUW junior leagues have been revealed, along with next season's junior calendar, in a mailing to all junior clubs. The letters detail that the planned U15 Leagues will be as last year - ie. games for between 7 and 10-a-side [odd, I thought U15 rugby was a 13-a-side game?], however the U18 Leagues could be significantly different.

While - again - games will be for 10 to 15 a-side, clubs will not be able to enter the U18 league unless they have at least 18 registered players - and there will be separate leagues for "developed" and "developing" clubs. Alternatively (presumably if there are insufficient entrants in an area) there will be a "Challenge Series" of four festivals, with "friendlies" covering the rest of the season.

The state of the leagues was discussed last month, and given the decline in both competing clubs and completed games at U15 level "carry on regardless" does seem, at best, odd - especially when compared with what is proposed at U18 level. A similar system of festivals - what sounds a bit like the old "SW League" - would actually make far more sense at U15 level.

From information I have seen about the state of U15 rugby, after one year of the U13 scheme, there is little doubt that entries for the leagues will be even lower this year. Across East Anglia and Middlesex it is likely that there are probably three - at most four - entrants (and one of those will be a cluster) a truly appalling state of affairs when you consider how many U15 teams the region had before the RFUW began its leagues. And no - the decline is not a co-incidence. Not even slightly.

With so few entrants any club entering a U15 league is therefore likely to be faced with ludicrously long journeys to fulfil their fixtures - thus guaranteeing that many games will not take place, and so the spiral of decline will continue. Its crazy - why not just gather all the clubs together in one place for a 7s or 10s festival like, well, we used to do?

The decline of U15 rugby has clearly been accelerated in this area by U13 rugby, as this has ensured that clubs have even fewer players. There is little doubt that for club rugby in Hertfordshire the U13 scheme in  has not been a disaster but a complete catastrophe. Across the county surveys indicate that there are fewer than 20 U13s who have joined a club, and only one club would be remotely capable of fielding a team.... which means that that club has no one to play! Obviously the U13s could be all brought together at county level to form a county team (like we used to do with the U12s)... if the RFUW had not forbidden inter-county U13 rugby!

Will this madness never end? Well, clearly not as the Junior Calendar (see below) now has a whole host of dates set aside for inter-club U13 rugby! ROFL! It is a level of self-delusion that is mind-blowing.

Compared to this insanity and hole digging, the proposals for U18 leagues are actually remarkably imaginative. The  festival idea is an interesting proposal which would - in effect - return the running of U18 rugby to the counties and regions with a game based around friendlies and festivals. This will happen if insufficient clubs enter the main league in any area - a distinct possibility because of the minimum number of players needed to enter. I mean, even at the peak if the junior game, about 4-5 years ago, how many clubs were there that had 18 or more players at U18 level? Half a dozen, at best, nationwide?

The one snag, however, is that this requirement may well encourage the more ambitious coaches and pushy parents to drive to set up Super Clubs of the sort we saw in the discredited and unlamented National Cup, which would be a disaster for everyone else for reasons discussed too often on here.

So - what we could we look forward to next season? Potentially it is a disaster of Titanic proportions:

• Girls who have been playing mini rugby moving into U13s and giving up on the game either because they find that there is no rugby for them to play, or if there is its a weird form of the game that they thought they had left before at U9s;
• A tiny sprinkling of U13 girls joining a club having started playing at school, but giving up for much the same reasons as above;
• The odd club forming a U13 team... but finding there is no-one for them to play within at least 50 miles or more;
• U15 leagues, but with fewer clubs than last year, resulting in teams having to travel insane distances across country to play maybe one game of 7s;
• A small number of U18 super clubs cherry-picking the best players and playing in a national league.

Of course it may not all be like that. There are some potential lifeboats. U18 coaches may have the sense to consider all their players, and the game as a whole, ahead of the gleam of silverware and go for the festival model. And in Hertfordshire at least the county's internal U15 and U18 leagues and cluster events will continue - a fine example of what can be achieved if you ignore RFUW edicts and carry in regardless. Wouldn't it be great if the rest of the country could do the same?

Finally - the Youth Calendar for next season....

County rugby: Junior festivals

Last weekend saw the first ever official RFUW county festivals for junior teams - though, before RFUW became involved, they had been going on for some years in this part of the country at least, and with plenty of Hertfordshire success!

In London and the South East, as mentioned a couple of days ago, Hertfordshire success continued in the U18s with Simon Shutler bowing out as county coach with yet another county title (we think he never lost a festival as a county coach, either in his U15 days, or with the U18s - he certainly cannot ever remember losing!). The U15s lost their final to Kent (see report), but even so another festival with both of the county's team reaching a final.

Can anyone remember a county festival in the past 6-7 years where Hertfordshire's team failed to at least finish as runners-up? I must confess that I can't - which, for a county with not the most magnificent of sporting traditions, isn't bad. I wonder - have our girls' rugby teams, over the past few years, been the most successful teams that the county had ever produced in any sport?

Anyway - full results from the L&SE tournament are on the Herts blog. So lets look at how things went elsewhere.

North Division
First, congratulations to Lancashire - the only county to do the "double" and win both U15 and U18 titles at their Divisional festival. With Cumbria, Cheshire and Durham having to combine to create a geographically unlikely team, the Red Rose county only had three opponents, but even so it was an impressive performance. Their U15s lifted their title without conceding a single point (but scoring 94!), while the U18s had some scares but still came through unbeaten.

The scores...

U15 Results
Yorkshire 0 Lancashire 34
Northumberland 21 Cumbria/Cheshire/ Durham 0
Yorkshire 33 Northumberland 5
Lancashire 20 Cumbria/Cheshire/ Durham 0
Yorkshire 27 Cumbria/Cheshire/ Durham 0
Lancashire 40 Northumberland 0

U18 Results
Yorkshire 0 Lancashire 7
Northumberland 0 Cumbria/Cheshire/ Durham 0
Yorkshire 20 Northumberland 5
Lancashire 19 Cumbria/Cheshire/ Durham 7
Yorkshire 0 Cumbria/Cheshire/ Durham 5
Lancashire 5 Northumberland 7

South West Division
The biggest festival was in the South West, where seven teams competed for the U15 crown, and six for the U18. The U15s had a long day - a single round-robin pool, meaning six matches for each team. Cornwall came through this marathon as the only unbeaten team, though Berkshire held them to a draw (but then lost to Devon, but still finished runners-up).

Unfortunately Cornwall were unable to do the double as they did not enter a U18 team at all, so the six remaining teams played off in the same format as London & South East used. However, the far South West triumphed again with Devon taking this title, easily seeing off Dorset & Wilts in the final. Somerset, on the other hand, completed a disappointing day with two wooden spoons.

The scores:
U15 results:
Berkshire 21 Somerset 0
Devon 12 Oxon 0
Berkshire 19 Gloucestershire 5
Cornwall 12 Oxon 7
Berkshire 17 Oxon 5
Berkshire 0 Devon 10
Oxon 28 Somerset 0
Berkshire 5 Dorset &Wilts 0
Gloucestershire 0 Oxon 19
Berkshire 5 Cornwall 5
Gloucestershire 7 Devon 5
Dorset & Wilts 12 Gloucestershire 0
Cornwall 27 Dorset & Wilts 0
Devon 12 Somerset 0
Devon 10 Dorset & Wilts 7
Cornwall 10 Somerset 0
Cornwall 10 Gloucestershire 0
Gloucestershire 0 Somerset 0
Devon 0 Cornwall 5
Somerset 0 Dorset & Wilts 24
Dorset & Wilts 7 Oxon 5

U18 results:
Pool A:
Berkshire 5 Devon 19
Gloucestershire 5 Devon 10
Berkshire 5 Gloucestershire 5

Pool B:
Dorset & Wilts 27 Somerset 0
Dorset & Wilts 15 Ox & Bucks 12
Somerset 0 Ox & Bucks 12

Play-offs:
5th/6th: Somerset 5 Berkshire 15
3rd/4th: Ox/Bucks 15 Gloucestershire 19
1st/2nd: Devon 21 Dorset & Wilts 0

Midlands Division
And finally the Midlands. Four U15s and five U18s competed for these titles, with North Midlands (home of Worcester) missing out on a double by two points - the margin of defeat for their U18s against Staffordshire & Warwickshire who went on to take the U18 title. However, the North Midlands U15s had few problems in their event, which saw some very high scoring for short festival matches.

The results:
U15 results:
NLD 5 Leicestershire 29
North Midlands 24 East Midlands 10
NLD 5 North Midlands 34
Leicestershire 10 East Midlands 0
NLD 5 East Midlands 12
Leicestershire 0 North Midlands 38

U18 results:
NLD 5 Leicestershire 0
North Midlands 5 Staffs/Warks 7
East Midlands 0 Staffs/Warks 14
NLD 10 North Midlands 17
East Midlands 0 NLD 22
Leicestershire 0 North Midlands 12
Staffs/Warks 7 NLD 5
Leicestershire 5 East Midlands 0
North Midlands 22 East Midlands 0
Staffs/Warks 19 Leicestershire 0

Herts 7s 2011

This year the Herts 7s returned to where the tournament was first held in July 2004 at Camelot RFC in Hemel Hempstead. With the ground rock hard from weeks of dry weather, it was a very good thing that at least a little rain fell in Hertfordshire the day before the tournament but I suspect that I was not alone in being pleased to have the weather dry and warm on Sunday.


Letchworth were drawn in Group 4 with Oakmedians A, Hertford, Guildford & Camberley and, as usual at major tournaments, Worcester. Anyway, the girls seemed quite happy with their lot (and Wonky told them who to blame if anything went wrong) ...

The first match was against Hertford and, after Letchworth had made their traditional slow start and then woken up, it proved to be a pretty even contest. However, by that time, Hertford had a decent lead which they did not relinquish even though Letchworth fought back to within 3 points by the final whistle - and secured a bonus point which would prove to be very important later in the day.

For the second game against Guildford & Camberley, Letchworth had a change of strip ... well, turned their shirts inside out which amounts to the same thing ... to avoid a complete muddle with both teams in virtually identical colours and shirt patterns. The change of colour didn't quite do the trick for Letchworth as they, once again, ended up second best in a closely fought game. However, with the score at 17 : 12, Letchworth again secured a vital bonus point.

With only 2 bonus points to show for their efforts in the first two matches - and with the tough game against Worcester still to come - the third game against Oakmedians A was a 'must win' fixture if Letchworth were to avoid bottom place in the group. As we have seen many times in the past, the Letchworth girls take while to get going but then go from strength to strength through a tournament and so it turned out again. The match against Oakmedians was another close encounter but, with Letchworth starting to play with more cohesiveness, they came out on top and, courtesy of the conversions to two of their three tries, a 9 point victory margin to deny Oakmedians their bonus point.

The final group game against Worcester A was never going to be easy but the Letchworth girls gave it a very good shot and contested keenly throughout. The final scoreline of Letchworth 5 v. 41 Worcester A showed what we already knew - that Worcester are a very good side and that Letchworth have some way to go to match them but it also tells us that Letchworth don't give up and that they can and do score against the top teams.
Before I move on, I must mention the Letchworth try against Worcester. I've seen many matches between these clubs and Letchworth tries are never plentiful and they are never easy to get so they are something special. And as it was a solo effort from a long way out against a couple of defenders, this must be one of the best of them ....

At the completion of the group stage, 3 teams in Group 4 had won only one of their games and the bonus points were the deciding factor. As Letchworth had 2 bonus points, they were placed 3rd in the group and went through to a Bowl semi-final against last seasons 'cluster' partner, Saracens.

The Letchworth girls had really warmed to the task by stage of proceedings and were playing their best rugby of the day. They took control of the game from the outset, scoring early on and maintaining pressure thoughout to earn a place in the Bowl final.


The Bowl final was between Letchworth and Hertfordshire U15s league winners, Royston. This was an entertaining game with both sides pressing throughout. Letchworth took an early lead and were looking comfortable by the interval but Royston came back strongly in the second half. Letchworth responded and were able to hold off the challenge, eventually running in another try of their own to make the game - and the Bowl - safe.

So then there just remained the business of collecting the U15s Bowl and medals from Hemel Hempstead MP, Mike Penning, and Terry Hathaway, Chairman of Camelot RFC -



Letchworth Results :

Group 4 games :

Letchworth 17 v. 20 Hertford
Letchworth 12 v. 17 Guildford & Camberley
Letchworth 19 v. 10 Oakmedians B
Letchworth 5 v. 41 Worcester A

Bowl semi-final :

Letchworth 32 v. 5 Saracens

Bowl Final :

Letchworth 19 v. 5 Royston

Letchworth U15s win Herts 7s Bowl

If you were wondering what Syd was talking about on Radio 1 yesterday (see "Sydney on Radio 1", below), here's a photo of the the Letchworth U15s with the Herts 7s Bowl at Camelot RFC.

Well done, Girls!

Match reports and more photos to follow shortly.

RFUW surprise us again - with a new age band

RFUW have announced today that, from September 1st 2011, a new Under 13s age band will be introduced for girls’ rugby in England. You can read the full press release on the Herts Girls blog.

While it is great to see RFUW taking action to bridge the Year 7 gap, there is a positive tidal wave of questions that the Release does not answer. For example, we must assume  that the U15 and U18 bands will remain, so there will presumably be a one year overlap in the U15 band, but nothing is said about this. There is also no mention about how wide this band is - three years, like the other two (so covering School Years 6-8)?   Will there be competitions of any sort, for teams to play for? County teams? Or will the girls just play friendlies (no bad thing!)? And while we are about it, what set of rules will they play to? Should a club's Year 8 girls play U13 rugby, or U15 rugby? Will they have to choose, or can they play both? On the same weekend?

I think we can assume that a U13 band was chosen (instead of the "unofficial" U12 band that has been in use in Hertfordshire for the past 4-5 years) because it is thought it will have more girls in it - though I remain unconvinced about that. The advantage of a U12 band was that it gave a home for girls already playing club rugby at the crucial age when they start feeling marginalised and drop out. However, the decision is apparently the result of years of several pilots so presumably the feedback has been good.

Hopefully more information will be published soon...

News from around the world...

A few stories you may have missed...

Worcester U15s had an unfortunate experience on a tour of Scotland. They arranged two games, then found that the first team they met only have seven players, while the second team failed to show up altogether. Curiously this is not the first report of problems faced by junior teams touring north of the border - there were some complaints recently from a junior team that went to Scotland to play tag rugby and found the local sides playing to to rather different law interpretations. It all goes to show that, as far as rugby is concerned, other parts of the UK can be just as much "foreign countries" as anywhere overseas!

The 2013 Women's Sevens World Cup starts in two weeks time - and some countries are "out" already. It has been announced that the North African Sevens will be a qualifier for the 2012 African Sevens, which will in turn be the qualifier for the 2013 world championship. Unfortunately this seems to be news to some nations who may not have realised this when they decided not to enter this year...

Finally dreadful news from the US, where Texas University student Stephanie Flores has died following an injury she received playing rugby for her university in Kansas last Sunday. In what sounds like a freak accident, Stephanie - captain of the university team and a member of the state representative XV - was injured "during the regular course of play...a straight on tackle caused [her] head to come into contact with the ground."

RFUW announce new junior festivals for 2011/12

The 2011/12 junior calendar has been published - and there are some rather interesting developments:

LEAGUES 

• These carry on, needless to say, pretty much as before. 
• There is some slight hints about maybe future tightening of entry requirements - lines like "if you have struggled for any reason as a club consider if it may be better for you to play friendlies" would seem to suggest some concerns based on the number of walkovers this season, for example. 
• The closing date for applications is 20th May, with fixtures published on 1st July
• The U15 league  will be for up to 10-a-side teams (minimum 7), U18 games for up to 15-a-side (minimum 12)
• 11 Sundays listed between 2nd October and 15th April... which also implies leagues no larger than six clubs (several this season had eight).

Comment: The trouble remains that this all betrays a lack of understanding about how junior clubs work. Most clubs will not have much idea about how many players they will have next year - least of all at U15s - and whether a club has struggled (or not) this season is no guide whatsoever to what they will do next season. I guess RFUW would argue that they need an early entry deadline to organise the leagues. And that is true - but it just goes to show that the system itself is wrong for the game as it currently stands. It is more sensible, surely, to design the system to match the game, not bend the game to match an inflexible system?


COUNTY RUGBY
Much as this season - one training/selection/development day (25th September), two matches (16th October and 6th November), and a County Festival (or festivals?) on 20th November.

DIVISIONAL RUGBY
As above. Trials will be 22nd January. U15s get a match (19th February), two training sessions (12th February and 25th March), plus a festival (1st April). U18s also train on 12th February, then play three games on 19th February, 18th March and 1st April.


NATIONAL SEVENS
Returns to a reasonable date (it was originally planned that this year's 7s would have been next weekend!), and two weekend are set aside for "local tournaments" in the lead in. Which is good - RFUW have clearly learnt that there are some rather successful independent events (like Herts 7s) that need preserving.

REGIONAL CLUB FESTIVAL
This is new (or maybe not, actually). Basically on 22nd April 2012 there will be "five festivals held across the country - clubs can choose which they want to attend. This festivals will be split for developed club and developing clubs". No indication yet whether these will be for 15s, 13s or 10s or what - but what is striking is that this sounds very like the good old National 10s which were also based on "festivals held across the country" where clubs could "choose which they want to attend".

One might ask "why five??" (when we have four divisions), but the main matters to watch for will be how sensitive the RFUW will be to existing 10s festivals played at this time - like Worcester and Worthing. If they have any sense (and sensitivity) they will bring these into the structure - the trouble is that words like "sensitivity" have not really been  associated with Twickenham decision making in the past...

However, that quibble aside, this is a great idea. It'd be nice if there were more, spread across the season, as everyone loves a festival, but its a start. And if they work maybe they will be extended!

U20 FESTIVAL
And finally, you never saw this coming. Truly this is from way left-field and opens stacks of questions (and cans of worms), but could be great.

Trouble is that - apart from being planned for the "Easter holidays" - there are no other details, least of all who could play in such a non-standard age group competition. In theory it might allow some of the Former Legends (including the likes of Nikki and Natalie) to pull on the Black and Amber again, but how far wide will the age grouping go? Could 17 year olds play, even though they are technically still "juniors" playing alongside "adults"? Its all a bit strange - though (potentially) fun...

The whole calendar can be seen here

Sunday in Cheshunt

Letchworth girls - and a few ex-Letchworth girls (Rosie, Mel and Nikki) - took a trip to Cheshunt last Sunday to try out rock-climbing and kayaking.

From Wonky's pictures the rock climb certainly looks challenging ...

Reports back say that it was a great day out and a good time was had by all.

Saracens Rugby Camp coming to Letchworth

As part of the Saracens Club Partnership Programme, Saracens will be returning to Letchworth RFC on Monday, 11th April for a One Day Skills Intensive Clinic aimed at U7 – U16 playing age groups.

The camp provides organised, educational and structured activities utilising award winning coaches from the Saracens Community team and has been designed to provide young players with a total rugby experience, contributing to their personal development on and off the field. The Saracens coaches will instil some of the values that drive professional players, urging young talent to play with passion and commitment, respect and discipline whilst focusing on their individual and unit skill development.

To reserve a place on the camp, contact Saracens at www.rugbycamps.com/saracens or by phone on 01707 285026

Hertford Girls win the day

On Sunday, Letchworth girls played Hertford girls in an entertaining U15s match at Legends Lane. The game was notable for the open running rugby and determination to win shown by both sides in a good-natured contest.

Although Letchworth took an early lead, they were soon pegged back by Hertford as the sides exchanged scores in the first quarter of the match. Moving into the second quarter, Hertford steadily built themselves a lead which, by the interval, had reached 25-15. The second half followed a similar pattern and even though Letchworth were continuing to press - and score - right through to the end, Hertford deservedly ran out winners by 50-30.

Hertford Girls at Legends Lane

Letchworth U15 Girls match against Hertford at Legends Lane on Sunday, 6th March will kick-off at 2pm.

More fixture news

The next fixture for the Letchworth U15 girls team will be a home encounter with Hertford RFC on Sunday, 6th March. Kick off times, etc. will be announced next week.

Springtime is almost upon us ...

It's that time of year when we can start to look forward to a few more daylight hours, a bit more warmth around, the first flowers of spring bursting into bloom and, of course, the knowledge that the annual round of rugby tournaments will shortly be upon us!

Letchworth Girls manager, Dave Rae, informs us that the first tournament this year for Letchworth Girls will be at Newmarket RUFC on Sunday, 20th March followed by the Gloucestershire 10s tournament at Hartpury College on Saturday, 23rd April.

The Newmarket RUFC have only recently formed girls teams at both U15s and U18s and this is the first running of the Newmarket Festival which should provide a great days competition.

The Gloucestershire 10s is the latest incarnation of a girls' rugby tournament at Hartpury College which has been very successful over recent years. The organiser of this year's event is none other than Joe Randall - Letchworth Girls head coach in 2006-7 - and promises to be a really great tournament.

Win for the U15s

News from Syd about Letchworth U15s winning their second game of the season. Well, not so much "win" - it seems - as an annihilation, a 52-0 win over Old Albanians. Syd ran in seven tries, apparently.

So the "new" Letchworth Girls continue to go from strength to strength! Well done everyone.

County weekend round-up

All of the weekend's county results have now been published - and some even more remarkable scores are included.

Seniors

First, congratulations for Hertfordshire - the senior women's team - who completed a clean sweep for the county with a 30-7 win over Leicestershire. Only Essex did better with a 32-5 win over Sussex, and that with a side packed with familiar names from the days of the great U18 rivalry between the counties - India Harvey and Emily Scott were both among the Essex try scorers. Pity the two counties are not due to meet - would be great to watch.

In other games Lancashire also followed on from their juniors with a 30-7 win over Yorkshire to complete the hat-trick for the red rose - clearly Yorkshire's old U18 girls have not made it into the senior ranks in the same way that those in Herts and Essex have. Devon's women also completed a clean sweep over their Cornish rivals, 27-19. And Hampshire will be very disappointed by their 20-0 defeat to Kent - especially when they could not score even when had a two-player advantage near the end of the game. But the less happy news is that, just like their U15s, Warwickshire could not raise a women's team to play East Midlands.

Elsewhere..

• Cheshire 15, North Midlands 22
• Cumbria 17, Northumberland 7
• NLD 21, Staffordshire 24

U18s


Results unpublished on Sunday now reveal that...

• Gloucestershire were the winners in a three cornered set of fixtures involving Berkshire and Oxfordshire - moreover without conceding a try with a 27-0 win over Berkshire, and a 37-0 win over Oxon.
• Cheshire beat North Midlands 32-12

So, based on the first round of games, the leading counties at U18 level are Dorset & Wilts, Gloucestershire, East Midlands, Surrey, and Hertfordshire. Will we get a better (if unofficial) idea about who the Champion County is after next month's round of games?

U15s


The headline result with the U15s is the amazing 99-0 win for North Midlands over Cheshire - though the fact that Cheshire would appeared to have only fielded 10 players may have been an important factor. Dorset & Wilts were almost as impressive in their 52-0 win over Somerset.

Elsewhere...

• Berkshire were winners of a triangular also involving Gloucestershire and and Oxfordshire
• Kent completed a disappointing weekend for Hampshire with a 26-0 win
• Northumberland beat Cumbria 20-14.

The leading U15 counties so far would therefore seem to be... North Midlands, Dorset & Wilts, Berkshire, Hertfordshire, Surrey, and Devon.

Rebuilding

Good news for ex-Legends and other distant followers of the team. After loads of hard work from existing players, managers, and the wider club - encouraged by Amanda Bate - Sydney tells me that the girls section now has not only a permanent coach but, even more importantly, a solid core of around 20 players, mainly at U15 level. It is a rate of growth that matches - even possibly exceeds - that of 2004, and being mainly at U15s gives the team a great base to build on for the next four years or more.

The U15s play their first game, at home, on Sunday - kick-off at c1pm. If you are around, why not come along and watch (and cheer on) the "new" Letchworth Girls?

Burfield - and a couple of Letchworth U15s - at the National 7s

For the first time in several years, Letchworth U15s - when combined with Saracens - were sufficient in numbers to permit us to make an entry to the National 7s. However, due to the large number of players who were unavailable, we had to reluctantly withdraw from the tournament. At Letchworth, we had two players - Sydney and Florrie - who were both fit and definately available to play and they, of course, were now without a team to play for ...

Step forward, Burfield U15s. Burfield (that's Burton and Lichfield from Staffordshire) were also suffering problems with player availability and they kindly offered our two girls places in their squad for the tournament. So on a rather damp day in Harpenden, Sydney and Florrie put on Burfield shirts and took to the field with determination to do their best for Midlands side.


Sometimes things that are driven by necessity can work out really well and, happily, that is what happened last Saturday. The coaches and girls from Burfield were friendly and welcoming and our girls had a great day. Of course, what made it even better for everybody is that Burfield played superbly to win the Plate competition. What a great result!

Now, with many thanks to the girls and coaches from Burfield, here are a few pictures of the U15s in action ...

I can't resist putting this one on the blog again - well done, Burfield!

And, finally, the Letchworth girls of both age groups show off their medals -