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

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

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.

Jade scores as U18 league begins

Congratulations to Jade Cooper, currently guesting for Saracens, who scored in what sounds like an overwhelming victory over Luton in their opening U18 league fixture. As results go it was not unexpected - Saracens are, as we know, an experienced side while this would be Luton's first season.

However, the size of the win does again question the idea of trying to get all teams - large and small, experienced and complete beginners - into the same, competitive, structure. Teams have to begin somewhere, obviously, and it is good to challenge a team against higher ranked opposition. However in the past - when the core of a season would be based around friendly fixtures - opposition could be selected and allowances made, especially if it was clear that games were one sided. But in a league you have no choice who you play and, with points and position at stake, not much room to manoeuvre over playing conditions either.

Threlfall photo archive updated

Phil has updated the Threlfall Archive with pictures from Woking, and the games against Berkshire and Welwyn.

There are many great shots - but one of the more interesting is this snap from the Berkshire game which appears to show one of the Berkshire girls betraying her Transylvanian hertiage - or maybe she is just a Twilight fan. 

Anyway it is clearly presenting the referee with a problem - which law is it that covers sucking the lifeforce from your opponent? 

On the plus side it does mean that Natalie will now never age, so will be available for the U18s next season... except, presumably, when its sunny!

*The fixtures and results page has also been updated

Silverware at Worthing for U15s and U18s

More detailed reports will appear shortly, but the headline news from Worthing is that the U15s came away with the Plate and the U18s the Shield at yesterday's Worthing 10s - the first trophies for the Letchworth Saracens cluster, and also the first time that we have ever come away from a tournament with trophies from both age groups.

From what I hear conditions were a shade damp - rumour has it that the St John's Ambulance were stood down and replaced by the RNLI.

RFUW bid to "nationalise" league rugby

Just when you might have thought that the future was looking good, what with the threat of regional rugby removed, and the promise of a 2010/11 season which clubs could plan for a full season of rugby with confidence, RFUW have dropped a huge great boulder into the calm waters of junior rugby.

Despite the fact that the junior club game is doing rather nicely, thank you, despite (or is it because of?) minimal central involvement - leagues springing up to meet and match local demands, a slew of fantastic and popular one-off tournaments such as the Gloucester 10s, Herts 7s and Worthing Festival, plus locally arranged clusters and the usual friendly fixtures - the RFUW have potentially thrown the whole thing on one side with proposals for a series of regional leagues run from the centre.

In practice its not entirely bad. The slightly random, ad hoc development of leagues have resulted in some clubs in some areas - due to geographic accident - being too far away from a league regular participation, but too close to not escape the side effects - ie. no teams to play due to other's league commitments. For several years this was a problem that Letchworth faced, until we clustered with Saracens and were therefore able to play in their league.

However, that is about where the positives end. The negatives, on the other hand, are legion.

First, the leagues are to be organised based on club distribution maps based on registrations (U15s above right, U18s left). However the teeny snag is that there is no actual relationship between registrations and "active" clubs. Even the category clubs register in - based on self-assessed teams sizes - rarely match reality. Clubs and teams grow and shrink, rise and fall, unpredictably as seasons go on. And between seasons its even worse - in recent years around 15-20% of teams have disappeared from register from one year to the next and the average club lasts about six years (being replaced by other clubs in different areas).

That does not point towards stability or equal numbers of teams in a league. Just because the arbitrary lines on a map that Twickenham have drawn currently show equal numbers of teams in a given area does not mean that this will be the case next season.

Of course boundaries can be changed to match these variations, but that is actually a minor problem compared with the next question - playing standards. There is a huge gulf - a Grand Canyon - between clubs just starting up and the more well established teams. What on earth would be the point of forcing little clubs just starting out into a league with the likes of Welwyn or Worcester? How would anyone gain from a league where clubs regularly win (or lose) by 100-nil (as would be quite likely looking at some of the proposed groupings)?

Which brings up the question of whether junior leagues are a good thing anyway. They are a gift for fixture secretaries who otherwise have the endless (and unappreciated) task of trying to put together a season of friendly games, while coaches love the competitive element - especially at the stronger clubs - aiming for silverware and the proof of... something. But for the development of junior players (or the game generally) are they actually a good thing? Is it good to push clubs to put out the strongest team each week (because what is the point of entering a league of you don't)?  How can new players get a game if its nothing but leagues? 

Leagues may make it easier to unearth and identify talented players, but surely that is what the representative programme is for? Is it really the point of club rugby (especially junior club rugby) - or amateur sport generally? Is junior rugby to be a sport just for the talented, or should it be a sport for everyone? What about average (or even below average) players who will never play for England, or even the county? Do they not matter as well? 

It is a problem that some leagues have faced and solved. While some are "traditional" winner-takes-all highly competitive competitions, not all are. Our current league recognises the importance of encouraging development, while the highly successful and innovative SW League is a completely different beast again - encouraging and rewarding participation as much as on-field success. All of these leagues are the response to local needs and local situations - one size does not fit all. But it will have to. And you can bet your life that the RFUW leagues will not follow the South West model!

It also has to be said that the centre's record when it comes to running junior club is not exactly impressive. The National 7s has always gone well, despite being by far the most expensive single day's rugby of the year, but the National Cup was never exactly a popular or accessible event for 90% of clubs, and even the short-lived National 10s was only a minority interest. On the other hand there are any number of popular successful competitions and tournaments run by individual clubs or countries "private" affairs - including Herts 7s, Gloucester 10s, Worthing, and all of the existing leagues - all of which attract higher entries than their "official" equivalents. And most - maybe all - of these risk being put out of business by the proposals. 

Which leads to the question of why RFUW should be getting involved at all? Where has the demand come from? Who has asked for this? Surely "if it ain't broke don't fix it"! What you can be sure of is that any league will come with a slew of new rules and regulations - players registered with certain clubs perhaps, limitations of "lending" players, demands that clubs play games at set times on set weekends, and endless petty disputes as a result. After all that is what has happened with one or two leagues. Throw in ambitious players (or more frequently parents) moving to "better" clubs because they are higher ranked in a league (again its already happened in some areas!) and its difficult to see any benefits from the plan at all.

Of course clubs do not have to enter - its not compulsory. However if you do not enter, but everyone else around you does, where does your club go then? Who will you play friendlies against if everyone else is playing in the leagues? Will players from non-league teams lose out when it comes to representative selections? Could anyone afford not to enter?

As for the fixture secretaries... well in the long term they may like leagues, but in a normal, sane, world they would also expect to more than a few months notice of major changes to their sport. This time of the year they would already be well on their way to sorting out next season's fixtures. Now... well, what on earth are they meant to do? Will there be leagues, or not? Will they be RFUW's leagues, or one of the current private affairs? Who will be in the leagues? When will the games be played? Is it too late to say that you never wanted to do this job in the first place?

Sunday 17th January : training at Saracens

With the postponement of the regional trials which were due to take place on Sunday, we are holding a Letchworth Saracens training session at the Saracens ground.

Please meet at Letchworth club by 11.45am to travel to Saracens for 12.30pm. If you are travelling direct to Saracens, please let Wonky or Mike know.

Training resumes at Letchworth!

Letchworth girls are a hardy lot which is just as well because tonight they had their first training session of 2010 on the verdant lawn that is our training pitch ... well, not quite! Although the pitch still has a covering of 5-10cm of soft snow, what it is covering is no longer the hard ice that has prevented training since December ... now the snow is covering a layer of water over our usual bottomless depths of brown sticky mud. To say that the pitch now 'takes a stud' is to hopelessly understate the case - it also takes a whole foot not to mention the attached flipper. At just one degree above freezing with a thick mist over the grounds, these conditions were not for the faint-hearted.

However, the girls were keen to get back to training and seemed to revel in the conditions as these pics show ...

RFUW proposes a whole new world for 2010/11

Its has one of the dullest titles ever, but Recommendations from the Competition Review Group on the RFUW Player Pathway For Implementation Season 2010-11 (click here to see a copy) - issued today for consultation - is one of the most revolutionary, and long awaited, reports to come out of Twickenham for many years. Even if you are not on the "Player Pathway" its worth a look because it will affect every single one of you - and in 99% of cases for the better.

Basically it proposes sweeping away the regional structure, not to mention most of the various unco-ordinated, ad-hoc, "seemed like a good idea at the time" initiatives added in recent years.

In its place is a structure that proposes raising the profile of the county rugby, developing a new divisional level for truly elite players - and putting club rugby back at the heart of things.

The language used is... astonishing, particularly for anyone who has tried to champion club rugby against the regional juggernaut in recent years. It is difficult to read without the a smile, or even near hysterical laughter, for it represents a conversion by the RFUW of biblical proportions. Just look at a few quotes from page three...

• "Any player wishing to play within the Player Pathway structure should be playing club rugby"
• "Clarity of message from the RFUW and RFU professional staff and the clubs"
• "Club rugby is the backbone of the game"
• "A strong club fixture programme supports the success of the [player development] programme"
• "Ensuring that there is a more consistent club programme throughout the year that is not disrupted by pathway programmes as much as previously seen."
• "Fewer players will be involved at the higher levels of the pathway so more players will be available for club rugby on a more regular basis."

Yes, its jaw dropping stuff. This is the RFUW talking - and incidentally it is also clear that much of this comes from all the surveys over the past few years - they have had an effect (O ye of little faith!).

But it doesn't stop there - it really doesn't. The aim is that every county (or, to be precise, ever "CB") will have squads and each RFU Division will run a county championship programme. Selectors will work to centralised criteria and be trained!!

The best players from the Divisional CB championships will be selected for the four new Divisional squads, which will replace the current 11 Regions. As a result the number of players lost by clubs in the second half of the season will be dramatically reduced - only 120 girls will play divisional rugby in each age band, instead of over 600 as at present - which should allow the club game to continue little affected instead of being decimated as it currently is (in fact it is only the "superclubs" who are likely to continue to suffer - which is no bad thing!).

In addition there will only be five divisional weekends (and only four for U15s), instead of the eight regional weekends that we have now. Divisions will instead have evening programmes - and on Monday evenings, a day chosen to avoid clashes with club nights! Success at divisional level will lead players on to national "elite" programmes, like the current TDGs and national squads.

However every silver lining must also have a potential cloud and there is one more proposal slipped in at the end which may result in mixed feelings, and which you may wish to comment on. It is a proposal that the women's/girls' seasons should end at the same time as the men's/boys' - so that would mean the National 7s at the start of May instead of the end. This would have a far reaching effect on several popular end-of-season events - like Worthing 10s, Dorking 7s, and Herts 7s - all of which would either have to take place after the nationals - or would have to move forward into April. This may require some concerted lobbying...

So, in summary, to compare and contrast how this will affect your game...

This season there are:

• 18 club weekends between September and April - plus five more in May leading up to the National 7s at the end of May
• 6 county weekends
• 8 regional weekends - when normal club rugby is all but impossible

Next season this will be replaced with:

• 23 club weekends from September to April (with National 7s at the start of May)
• 5 county weekends
• 5 divisional weekends (4 for U15s) - when club rugby should be possible (so that is potentially 28 club weekends)

Responses to the proposals are invited by the RFUW - see this reply form. They should reach RFUW by 25th January.

League games vs Middlesex

This Sunday (11th October) we have league matches against Middlesex for both U15 and U18 teams. The matches are at Grasshoppers RFC which is at :

Macfarlane Lane (off Syon Lane), Osterley, Middlesex TW7 5PN

and can be found by :

Taking the North Circular to the Chiswick roundabout;
taking the 5th exit onto the A4 (Great West Road) heading towards Houndslow/Staines;
at the 1st roundabout continuing on the A4;
turning right onto the B454 (Syon Lane);
turning right into Macfarlane Lane.

Please meet at the Letchworth club by 11.00 am at the latest to travel to Grasshoppers for 12.20 pm.

Please let Mike or Wonky know if you need a lift to the match or you are travelling there direct.

Laura makes U18 county squad

Congratulations to Laura who has made the U18 squad after her first appearance at a Hertfordshire county trial. She will be joined in the squad by Jess and Natalie, who have obviously both played at this level before.

The full squad can be seen on the Herts Blog.

The Hall of Fame has also been updated to include the U18 and U15 selections.

Plans for next season

Mike has confirmed the arrangements with Saracens for next season. Basically both clubs will be registering separate teams at both U15 and U18 level, and the intention is to have as many independent fixtures as possible, but current player numbers (at both clubs) are such that such games are unlikely to be full sized, at least at the start of the season.

As a result a "cluster" with Saracens - likely to be called "Letchworth/Saracens" (much as last season Welwyn and OA Saints combined to play as "Welwyn Saints") - has also been registered. This will allow us to field combined teams (U15 and U18) in the Thames Valley league (which Saracens have been playing in for the past two seasons) as well possibly other competitions which either club, on its own, could not currently enter.

The problem with clusters is that they can quickly become "clubs" in their own right, but by keeping our own separate fixtures alongside the clustered games we will be able to keep our own identities. At the same time it will allow everyone to take part in any competitions next season without having to wait while the clubs build up their squads - and, because we are at opposite ends of the county, we will not be competing for the same players, which can be a problem with clusters of neighbouring teams.

So 2009-10 looks like being one of the most exciting, and varied, seasons so far with a full fixture list of games for both age groups. And if you are wondering how far away the new season is... see above (the clock is currently counting down to the first Sunday of September - when the season officially begins).

Letchworth U18s win Plate at National 7s

For the second time in 3 years, Letchworth U18s won the Plate competition at the RFUW National 7s. The victorious team, with manager John Birch, coach Katie Alcock and supporters from the Letchworth U15s side, are shown with the trophy at Harpenden RFC on Saturday :

A full report on the tournament will be published shortly.

National 7s: RFUW to form Barbarian team

The last minute withdrawl of one team from tomorrow's tournament (RFUW do not say who) has resulted in the RFUW making an appeal for any players (who are not currently members of any of the remaining 15 teams) who might fancy a game to contact them asap with the aim of forming a Barbarians team.

I  just thought I'd mention it just in case:

a) they end up in the same group as us and Worcester* and you all wondered who the heck they were, and 

b) any readers from outside the club haven't got the message and wanted to join in the festivities (in which case they need to get on to Keeley at RFUW - KeeleyFathers@rfu.com - now!)

*Obviously I haven't seen the actual draw yet, but past experience indicates that its highly unlikely that Worcester will NOT be drawn in our group...

The Great Escape - coming this weekend!

Just in case you haven't heard, but one of our number not seen since the game against the Yetis should be joining us this weekend. 

Previous escape attempts from Stalag Luft Grantham have been thwarted by problems with getting over the wire, or difficulties with escape tunnels - or something like that - but the great news is that this weekend Hayley is confident that she will make a successful getaway. The guards have been bribed to look the other way and - so long as she is back in the camp by lights out on Sunday night - they will not raise the alarm.

National 7s

This year the National 7s return to Harpenden RFC on Saturday 23rd May and we have entered our U18s team.

Will all players please ensure that they have completed an RFUW Participation Consent Form and returned it to Mike or John before setting out to the event. Please note that without this form duly signed by a parent or guardian you will not be allowed to compete.

We will meet at the Letchworth club at 8.30am to travel to the tournament. Any players requiring a lift or travelling straight to the game should let John or Mike know as soon as possible, please. If you are travelling direct, please ensure that you meet up with us at Harpenden by 9.30am at the latest.

Anyone wishing to travel to Harpenden to support the girls in the event will be most welcome but we will have only a limited number of spaces available to offer lifts. Please make sure you let us know in advance if you wish to come and we will do our best to get everyone there. If you are travelling independantly to support the girls, please note that, if you arrive after 10am, you may be charged for parking.

Harpenden Rugby club can be found at Redbourn Lane, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2BA (Tel: 01582 460711). A map of the area is given at: http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=512320&y=212780&z=3&sv=512320,212780&st=4&ar=Y&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf

Carla Kelly: the bandaged wonder

"Okay then - just tell me which bit DOESN'T hurt.."

This Saturday will be the a day of goodbyes - more girls move on to adult rugby after this season than we have ever lost before - but for one of our number the end has already come.

Carla won't be with us at the Nationals. Her final game was the Herts 7s semi final last Sunday, and it was peculiary fitting that she should end her that match lying on her back on the field being attended to by Joe and various medical types for no-one has had a bigger impact on the team's first aid supplies than Carla.

This may partly be due to her unwillingness to follow medical advice too closely, generally converting a doctor's suggestion that she take a certain number of weeks off into a similar number of days. 

Carla's utter dedication to the game and her team was slightly later to get going than her contemporaries, for - although in the squad for the infamous HYG tag team in 2004 - she could not make the actual tournament. However, Carla did pull on a Letchworth shirt for the first time a few weeks later for a tag tournament in Harpenden - the forerunner of Herts 7s - and has missed very little rugby since. 

In fact she (along with Nikki) are possibly unique in having played both there and at every Herts 7s tournament ever held since (in fact we are possibly the only club that has been to all six editions of the county's girls' rugby tournament).

Carla is also probably unique in having been selected for the region - and not once but twice (at both U14 and U17 level) - but never for the county. Quite how Herts selectors could repeatedly overlook abilities that both we and regional selectors have so prized remains one of the game's great mysteries. In fact Carla was the only player from the 2005/6 East Region team not to be selected for the 2006/7 Herts county squad - a decision that ended Carla's regional career. In more recent years she did not even bother going to the trials.

But enough of such unimportant controversies - one effect was to give us unique access to one of our most determined, dedicated, brave, and versatile players in the game. Beginning in 2004 as a goal-kicking hooker, Carla has played just about every forward role available (and now there are suggestions that Hitchin may have her lined up as a back next season!). In every role she has made her mark, never letting us down, putting - even throwing - her body on the line at both ends of the field in support of her team and friends.

Perhaps one of her most memorable tries demonstrated this - the one of the tour against Exeter (see below) where she somehow seemed to shrug off tackles from half the Exeter team in a single-handed 40+ metre drive to the tryline. 

All this has not made her a stranger, shall we say, to the first aid kit - her first trip with East to the regional finals at Rugby School ended in the St John's ambulance and not much has changed since. This has had the effect of producing the following oft repeated touchline exchange...

A: "Quick - someone's down!"

B: "Who is it?"

A: "Oh its okay - its Carla. She'll be up again in a minute!"

And she (almost always) was - generally recovering instantly to the magical words...

"Do you want to come off then?"

Its difficult to believe that she will not appear again in the black-and-amber, but its great to know that she will be staying in the game - spearheading the Letchworth invasion of the Hitchin women's team. I just hope that their first aid kit is well stocked...

A day near the seaside ....

Very early on Sunday morning, a number of insomniacs set forth to Worthing to join up with a further bunch of insomniacs who had set off the previous evening. Of course, those who went down on Saturday didn't know they were going to be insomniacs as well but then they hadn't heard Wonky snoring before, had they? Apparently, the sound of donkeys being sawn in half have nothing on Wonky's efforts .... that's the thing about tents - no sound proofing! ( ... and no thermal insulation, either, as some of this bold troupe found out overnight).

Anyway, around 9am we all gathered at Worthing RFC to register and be told that, due to a number of teams having withdrawn, the draw was being redone to simplify the group structure and that we would all receive a revised timetable shortly. Actually, we never got ours ......! When the games did get started it was around 10.50am and, according to the pitch marshal, Letchworth had 3 scheduled group games at 11.30 against Esher, 12.10 against Basford and 14.10 against Thomas Beckett. Needless to say that it didn't quite work out like that!

The first game against Esher eventually got underway at about 11.50, I think, and, as is too often the case, Letchworth were slow off the mark. Esher are a good side and needed no second invitation to press their advantage which saw them cruise away to a 3 tries to one advantage by the break. Only then did Letchworth start to compete more strongly but it was too late to turn the game around. Letchworth stepped up their play for the match against Basford but were still not in top gear and, though it was a much closer affair, Basford ran out winners 12-5. And so to the third match against Thomas Beckett (or, in my case, and so to the hospital with Mel who had taken a bad knock to the shoulder) where at last the girls started to play as they would wish to and ran out comfortable winners 34-5 thanks to tries by Jess, Georgie, Lizell, Natalie and Katie.

The 3 group games secured Letchworth a Plate quarter-final tie against Glossop which, I understand, was a well contested tight game that Letchworth won 14-5 thanks to two tries by Lizell which Nikki converted. Unfortunately, Lizell also took a heavy blow to the hand which promptly ballooned up and she was unable to take any further part in proceedings ....

The Plate semifinal against Folkstone was tied at 0-0 when we returned from the hospital with Mel who, fortunately, has not broken her collar bone as was feared. The second half was a thrilling encounter with Natalie breaking away down the wing to give Letchworth the lead and Folkstone replying in kind to score at the other end and take the tie to sudden death extra time. Letchworth kept up the pressure until a break by Jess sent Natalie away to force her way over and score a try under the posts.

Like the semi-final, the final against Oakmedians was a wonderfully exciting, keenly contested match which was a credit to both sides. Letchworth took the lead with a first half try by Jess only to see Oakmedians score straight from the restart and, crucially as it turned out, convert the try. The second half started with concerted attacks by Oakmedians which Letchworth were only just able to repell and then it was Letchworth on the attack and Oakmedians defending. With 5 minutes to go, Laura took a bang to the head and had to leave the fray and Letchworth had finally run out of players. However, despite being reduced to 9 girls, Letchworth pressed home the attack to the very last whistle which came with Carla failing by only an inch or so to score the winning try. Ultimately, it was wonderful resolute defence by Oakmedians which earned them the Plate but the Letchworth girls were fantastic in supporting each other and giving their all to win the game - all in all, a great advert for girls rugby.

I am immensly proud to have been associated with the Letchworth girls team on Sunday and I know that all the coaches, parents and supporters feel the same. After such performances it would be quite wrong to single out any individual for particular praise as every player gave their all to the very end. As a former coach of yours would definately have said, "AWESOME, Girls! Just AWESOME!"

Results :

Group :

Letchworth 5 Esher 22

Letchworth 5 Basford 12

Letchworth 34 Thomas Beckett 5

Plate QF : Letchworth 14 Glossop 5

Plate SF : Letchworth 10 Folkstone 5

Plate final : Letchworth 5 Oakmedians 7

Letchworth scorers :

Tries : Jess (4), Lizell (4), Natalie (3), Georgie (2), Katie

Conversions : Nikki (3), Carla

Laura (Bubbles) :

As all of you who were there know, Laura was taken ill after the end of the final game and had to be taken off to hospital to be checked out. I'm pleased to report that she was allowed home later that evening and is getting back to her normal bouncy self.

Photos : In addition to my few pictures above and to the Threlfall archive, you may be interested in looking at the DE Photo website at http://www.dephoto.biz/ where many hundreds of professional pictures of the event can be seen and, should you be so inclined, purchased.