A huge congratulations to our U11's & U12's who participated in this weekends mini's festival. A great day of rugby by all and for all who supported.

Please find below the press release from the day;

Due to the popularity of our Mini Section (more than 300 active players) our festivals have to be split into two age groups, and on Sunday the ‘big mini’s’ – our Under 11’s and 12’s, took centre stage.

In total 360 young rugby players, from 15 different Essex and Eastern Counties clubs competed in a total of 56 games of rugby. In line with the Kids First Rugby and the new RFU Age Grade ethos, the games were ‘non-competitive’ – this means that the scores aren’t collected or recorded and every team has exactly the same amount of playing time. There are no group matches, semi-finals or finals, just an emphasis upon fun, enjoyment and player development. When children are asked to identify the best thing about playing rugby they will invariably tell you that they look forward to playing sport with their mates; Age Grade Rugby delivers this objective without the pressure of competition - no one is a loser, everyone is winner.

The move to Age Grade rugby was in no way a major shift in mindset for Colchester RFC; we have always believed in mixed ability mini rugby and our emphasis has always been focused on player development. The invitations to local clubs set out our objectives; coaches were asked to make absolutely every effort to ensure that their teams were mixed and well balanced and without exception, clubs adhered to these principles.

The games were played in a competitive, but sporting atmosphere. We encouraged coaching/refereeing where the appointed referees guided and coached teams to improve rather than penalize them for their mistakes. All our guests embraced this approach and as a result the rugby improved as the festival progressed.

The core values of sportsmanship, respect, enjoyment, discipline and teamwork were clear for all to see. It was also a feature of our festival that larger clubs were encouraged to support and bolster the resources of the smaller clubs. It was vital that those clubs who could only bring a handful of players were fully involved in proceedings and that their players had an opportunity to wear their club colours with pride.

Colchester RFC would like to pay tribute to our visitors and their families – their spirit and support was infectious and their players fed off the atmosphere. Our festival would not be possible without the financial support of our club festival sponsors Haart Estate Agents and the practical support of our army of volunteers: coaches, referees, pitch marshalls, car parking attendants and program sellers!

On March 19th the Colchester RFC U7’s-U10’s have their opportunity to shine in our final mini festival of the 2016-17 season. We estimate that there will be possibly 500+ mini rugby warriors taking to the field; Mill Road will be busier than ever!

Jon Smith

We are awaiting images but if you have any photo's from the festival and like to share then please send them in here.