Anyway.......................

back to why im here in the first place , thanks to the house of Micky and the fixture committee I know have a Riddle for you.

Alex a nephew signs up at a @icon_confused.gif>s based club in the under 8s last week as they are still in season , the liasion of stani@::@@icon_confused.gif in LE@@@ points out the system and that although he is 9 in 5 weeks time he wont play in the 9s for around another 200 days ....

so it got me thinking .

i post a lot of 10s and 12s

both of mine will end up playing 10 and 12 , but some of their friends will be 11 and 13 and some even 9 and 11.

riddle me this you wallies

there has to be a cut off point for age like there is for starting school,

one of my old school buddies had to stop back a yr in the juniors due to him starting at the wrong date and having his birthday the day after the said fixed date

harsh I know but he will become one of the strongest players when his time comes to play for the nines

i did give shaw cross loads of credit and to be fair i think there a decent team but i watched pathers beat them verry easy early on the season all im saying panthers was not at the races and cross was and yes they did only have 10 players and for that verry big well done.

like to say well done to eastmoor dragons u8s who won there gala on sunday winning 6 out of 6 against some tough teams including west hull.they then played at belle vue last night where they where split into two teams and one of them played stanningly and oulton u9s and they beat stanningley and lost a by one to oulton

I know there are many who visit this thread who either coach or are involved with junior sides. I have never had a child in any of the teams I have coached (I don't have the time for a child with coaching!) and I am curious as to whether having a child of your own affects the dynamic of the team or politics within the whole group?

That's a great question Seth,for me personally I don't think it has ever affected the team has a whole has I've treat my lad has just another player although sometimes you can be a little harder on them.

Another reason for me stepping down has a coach was that I want jake to learn from another coach and not have the added pressure of trying to do that bit more,watching him play for his school team under another coach made it easier for us both and i after say that it was great just to watch him play without worrying about another 16 lads.

I do think it helps give a more balanced view when a coach doesn't have a child in the team but finding coaches like yourself is very hard.

The strange thing over the last 15years or so I have been involved with junior rl, the Coaches kids are always the captain, and are either 6, 7, or 13, and the kicker !!!! with the odd and rare exception.

quality

Gala this week on Sunday at Cas Tigers for the u7s. Not sure what other teams are playing but Stanley are. Gala will take place all day with the final being played on the main pitch at half time during the Cas v Wakefield fixture.

The point you make about learning from other coaches is an important one, I'll sometimes get other coaches to come in and lead a session, I think the more quality imput they can get the more they will develop.

I can imagine it could be a challenge to focus on the development of a squad and your own child's within that as is only natural. I can also imagine that others may 'judge' or focus on the role the coaches child plays, which is not always fair. I don't know of any other teams at junior level who have a non parent as coach? I think it has been an advantage in some ways given some stories I've heard.

We have, and we've just recruited another for next season.

I suppose it's helped us to avoid any drama due to suggestions of favouritism and such, but the reality is that decent coaches with the right attitude are so hard to come by, that if one your parents has those credentials, you'd have little choice but to use them.

For me, the RFL leaves too much to chance around junior coaching - there should be a much more robust RL curriculum for junior players and the delivery of it should be properly policed in terms of CPD and regular assessment; as it stands, junior coaching is too inconsistent and doesn't always focus on player development.

Some good news on the coaching front for the panthers 12s with 3 new coaches stepping in.

I know from experience that all the Local RL clubs running Junior Academy’s (Hudds/Wakey/Leeds/Fev/Cas) actually do this, I am particularly impressed with Fev approach as they have CPD and personal development plans for individuals not relating to the rugby side (I.E. personal/social and academic development)

That's great at pro and semi-pro level, but the RFL should be overseeing something similar at junior level.

The amateur coaches attend CPD run by the pro club. Our club are also an RFL focus club and we have a coach coordinator programme with coordinators at mini, mod (my role) and junior 13 aside. We are working to help support coaches develop their players, as with anything the programme will depend on how receptive coaches are.

That's the first I've heard of anything like that - how would one get access to it?

For Leeds clubs it's the Leeds rugby coaching association through Sam Horner. I'm not sure about Wakefield but if you contact their community development team they would be able to advise. You may even be able to register for the Leeds work shops. We've run sessions for mini, mod, 13 a side and Brian McDermott has come in to lead a couple too.

LRCA info is on rhinos website under foundation.

Steve Copley and Danny Duce, both at Stanley under 16's and 13's both none parents

eastmoor u8s are playing and i know there are some u9s too as some of the 8s for eastmoor will play v u 9s to try and prepare them for next season

I don't think lance Day has a kid in the Crigg U12's he coaches


Unless there's a scandal yet to be unveiled

Nah i doubt it



He went there to help out for a while and he's still there.

And there isn't a ginner in the team !

Goods days rugby, impressed with the under 7s teams stepping up to take on the 8s. Best game of the day was Stanley 8s v Stanley 7s and best player in the tournament was the girl playing for Stanley 8's. Eastmoor were the best team though, big units and had some cracking set plays and a great attitude to defence and rightfully won the tournament.

All in all a very enjoyable days rugby.

it was a good day and i have to agree bout the girl her tackling was outstsnding.i watch the eastmmor every week and ther set plays for kids of 8&7 year olds is excellent

Eastmoor Dragons are hosting a Wakefield Wildcats training session on Thursday 16th August between 6.30-7.30 for the Under 12’s and 13’s. Any youngster who falls into this age bracket and is not currently playing for another club is welcome to join us. It will be an excellent opportunity for children to experience junior rugby for the first time with the added incentive of meeting a couple of first team players from the inform Wildcats squad.
Eastmoor Juniors always welcomes any new players to their training sessions on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and currently have teams playing at under 8, 11, 12 and 13’s age groups. The under 12’s (year 8 in Sept 13) have a squad of 13 players so any new faces within that age category would be great
Regards