Huddersfield Laund Hill RUFC are running a fantastic mini rugby session for children aged between four and 10-years-old.
The club’s director of rugby Andy Appleby is delighted that the take-up has been so encouraging but would love even more local children to come along.
The hour-long sessions are run every Sunday morning starting at 10.30am and Andy said: “It’s brilliant to see all of the youngsters enjoying themselves playing rugby union up at Laund Hill. Everyone at the club is absolutely buzzing about the minis.
“We’re a welcoming, family friendly club and we want to be at the heart of our community, to offer rugby for all regardless of age, sex or ability.
“After a tough couple of years due to Covid, we’ve made a real effort to get back to our roots, which has always been to grow our own, many of our current men’s and ladies’ IXVs started out in the minis. There’s a well-trodden path for the kids to take for them to get into rugby as far as they would like, to our IXVs and beyond.
“We’ve got a fantastic, dedicated, fully DBS-checked and RFU Safeguarding qualified team of coaches, who are committed to making sessions fun and enjoyable for both the kids and the parents. I think the smiles on faces and numbers turning up every Sunday morning are testament to that.
“The plan going forward is to continue to build and develop, ultimately we would like to be able to turn out teams of local girls and boys in every age group, to give them the best rugby experience possible, forging lifelong friendships and fostering a lifelong passion for the sport.”
Coach Richard Shaw added: “Pre-Covid we had five or six minis at the club but since then, alongside the club rebranding, we have made a concerted effort to attract more local youngsters and their parents to get involved.
“We now have 40 minis/juniors and great support from parents. We’ve just hosted our first set of home games and fielded under 7s, 8s, 9s and 10s. The long term hope is to keep growing and see these players mature into juniors then colts then seniors.
“We have a 50/50 split between girls and boys and another goal is to start having a junior girls section and feed the club’s female roses team. Ian Hirst, the long-standing and respected coach of the minis, has been instrumental in making this happen.
“With the support of the other coaches, and the full backing and input from the committee, we can only see the minis going from strength to strength which is an exciting time for everyone.”
If you want your child to get involved in the sessions then why not call Richard on 07947 835197?
