Job vacancy: Community coaches at Saracens

Saracens Sport Foundation

Community Coaches

Part Time Flexible hours

Due to the success of the Foundation during the last 12 months, the Foundation has secured additional funding to expand our delivery capacity and now require part time coaches to deliver a number of sports as part of our new programme initiatives.

Responsibilities

• To deliver on a number of sport projects including primary and secondary school delivery, after school clubs, club coaching and holiday camps across the whole of Hertfordshire.
• Cover a range of sports, from rugby to dance, golf, basketball, cricket, athletic, skateboarding, American football – to name a few.
• Plan, organise, deliver and review all sessions.
• To mentor young sport leaders – 16 – 19 year olds
• Hours of work include afternoons, evenings and weekends

Successful applicants will posses:

• Excellent communication, organisational and IT skills
• Experience of coaching various sports across a range of ages (you may be required to work with children from 3 – 24 years old)
• Level 1 coaching qualification in at least one sport – preferably a Level 2.
• Current First Aid qualification
• Current Driving Licence and have access to a car
• An up to date CRB check, and child protection certificates (to be brought to interview)

Immediate hours are available once all checks have taken place and a period of shadow coaching has been completed.

Application

Applicants should send a current CV and covering letter to hannahp@saracens.net or via post to Hannah Pirnie, Saracens Sport Foundation Rigby House, 34 The Parade, High Street, Watford, WD17 1EA.

Closing Date for applications: Thursday 3^rd April 2008 at 5pm

Interview Date: Interviews will be held the week commencing 14^th April 08

Talent Development Group U18 v. Canada U19

TDG U18 played the touring Canada U19s last Friday at Heythrop Park in Oxfordshire, where the TDG group train, and narrowly lost 19-15. Three Welwyn Warrior / Herts Players represented the TDG (Alex Robertson, Megan Williams and Hannah Gallagher) with Williams scoring one and Gallagher scoring the other two of the TDG's three Tries.

New U12 fixtures

Just to highlight two new U12 dates:

27th April: As mentioned below, in addition to the four-way U15 inter-county fixture at Welwyn there will also be a U12 fixture against Eastern Counties (ie. Norfol/Suffolk/Cambs).

11th May: The London & South East Sevens at Dorking will now include a U12 event.

If you are interested in playing in either of these events please let John Birch know as soon as possible.

Herts U15 Development Fixture 27th April at Welwyn RFC

On 27th April, whilst the 11 Herts Regional Players are away at their last training session before the Regional Festival in May, Welwyn are hosting the final U15 County Development Fixture of this season. Herts, Eastern Counties (Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambs), Kent and Middlesex have all now confirmed it will be a 4 way fixture.

All of the Herts U15 Development Players in this fixture will be staking a claim for a place in the Herts U15 A Team in September, as approximately half of this Seasons successful U15 County Team move up to U18 Rugby at the end of May.

Eastern Counties are also bringing 'Team Ravens' U12's, and Kent and Middlesex are bringing their U12's to play 'Team Herts' U12's.

Herts Womens and Girls Rugby Development Group Meeting Mon 14th April 2008

Confirmation that the next meeting of the HWGRDG is taking place at Welwyn RFC on Mon 14th April starting at 7.30. If you have not previously attended these meetings (usually 3-4 times a year) this group works together to plan Tournaments, run the County Teams, exchange Best Practice and advice, and to try and help each other develop Womens and Girls Rugby in Herts. If your club does not send a rep to the group and would like to do so, or if you are a regular attendee who has a specific Agenda item, then please e-mail me on peter.mccullough@ntlworld.com

A Very warm Welcome for the Warriors in Wales.

Welwyn Warriors took a tour party of 56 to South Wales over Easter and found the very warmest of welcomes in the valleys!!

Warriors played Newport H.S.O.B. on a Good Friday that saw 4 seasons in one match! Warm sunshine, hail, snow & rain! Warriors U15s played the first match and beat Newport 49-5. Most of that match was played in sunshine but by the time of the U18s match, the rain and sleet was pouring down!! In a titanic tussle Warriors ran into a 19-0 lead only to see Newport claw back the points in the heavy conditions. With a minute left on the watch, Newport ran in a breakaway try to make the score 22-19. From the kick off Warriors poured forward, gained possession and scored a converted try to make the final score 22-26. There were some very relieved Warriors as the final whistle blew!

On Saturday the whole party went to the EDF semi finals at the fantastic Millenium stadium and saw Leicester beat Wasps and Ospreys beat Saracens.

Back to business on Easter Sunday with a trip to Ebbw Vale to take on the East Wales regional sides. First thing in the morning the pitch had a 2 inch covering of snow but that had cleared by kick off. Warriors U15s found the Welsh regional girls a tough prospect and although they battled hard the final score was 66-7 to Wales with only Captain Courtney Arberry scoring a try.

Warriors U18s then kicked off and clearly wanted to put the stuttering Newport performance behind them. The Welwyn girls played some delightful rugby and flew into a 17-0 lead at half time.Centre Alex Robertson scoring 2 superb tries. The scums were dominated by a Welwyn pack in full flow. No matter what they tried, The Welsh girls faced a wall of maroon hoops with no way past. The game finished 17-0 a few minutes early after scrum half Casey Shults was injured.

Team Manager Dave Marques was delighted! 'We have had a fantsatic tour! Everybody in Wales, from the moment we checked into our hotel, has been so friendly and welcoming! The post match hospitality is as good, if not better than anything we've ever had before! At the post match presentations in Ebbw Vale, Welsh RFUW officer Nicola Smith, thanked the Welwyn touring party for the visit and went onto say that the Welsh age groups will move into line with England next season and urged all at Welwyn to encourage other teams to visit the principality as the Welsh teams would love to host them! Head Coach Clive Cramphorn urged any English sides looking for a touring venue, to go to Wales, 'Fantastic Rugby, fantastic people, fantastic hospitality, definitely go to Wales!'

National Cup Second Round Results

U18 Section Pool 2:

Solent Sirens 3 Wimborne 7

Welwyn /Basford 5 Solent Sirens 0

Wimborne 6 Welwyn / Basford 10

Pool Winners: Welwyn / Basford

The Final of the U18 Section is Worcester v. Welwyn / Basford and is taking place on 13th April at Litchfield RFC.

RFUW News Update - March 2008

RFUW NEWS UPDATE – March 2008

RBS 6 Nations – England were crowned champions on 15^th March and also made history by becoming the first team in Six Nations history to ever win the Grand Slam three times on the bounce! Thanks to the supporters that came along and cheered the team on, we had some great crowds.

Club Development Toolkit Fund – The RFUW is pleased to announce that £7,500 of Club Development Toolkit Funding is available to clubs. Clubs are asked to apply directly through a bidding process to receive funding. This is a one-off opportunity, so grab it while you can! For more information, click here.

RFUW National Sevens – Please note the deadline for getting your National Sevens entry forms in is this week. Another form is enclosed for ease and please see RFUW National Sevens for further information about this year’s competition which has the juniors playing on Saturday 24^th May and the seniors playing on Sunday 25^th May.

Intention to Affiliate – Enclosed is everything you need to advise of your teams’ intention to affiliate for the 2008/09 season including draft calendars and league criteria information. Please note that we have changed the way in which you pay the player registration fee. This is now based on the league minimum number and therefore rewards clubs who have a development plan and recruit more players. Closing date to receive your intention to affiliate is 23^rd May 2008.

Divisional 10s Competition – Senior and Under 18s Divisional 10s will take place on 20^th April this year at venues across the country. This is a great opportunity for your team to tour if you’d like to travel to a venue further afield. Please send entry forms direct to the venue you would like to attend by the closing date of 7^th April. Two clubs from each event will qualify for the National 10s final on 5^th May at Lichfield RFC.

Club Conferences – In June the RFUW will be holding four divisional Club Conferences to provide a training and development opportunity for club volunteers. The conferences will include a variety of sessions for administrators, coaches and referees. Details are as follows, please make a note of the date in your diary:

The South West at Exeter Chiefs on 8^th June

The Midlands at Worcester RFC on 14^th June

The North at Broughton Park RFC on 21^st June

The South East and London at Herts Sports Village on 28^th June

Your invitations with further details will be sent to your club during April. Please make sure you complete the return form and get it back to us as soon as possible to secure your place. For queries contact Gemma Ryan at the RFUW on 020 8831 6788 or at gemmaryan@rfu.com.

Rugby and What it Means to You – The RFU are inviting sports fans to share their views on rugby and consider what the game means to them. In the last ten years rugby has undergone a great deal of change with the success of England’s national teams and the recent Go Play rugby recruitment campaign which introduced thousands of new fans and players to the sport. The RFU is now conducting an online survey to widen the debate. Link to RFU Online Survey: www.rfusurvey.co.uk

RFUW Surveys – Thanks to everybody who took the time to complete the RFUW online surveys earlier this year. We are currently collating and analyzing data collected and hope to have results posted on the RFUW website in April.

Rosie Williams

Managing Director

Herts Girls 7's - Update

An Application rush is now expected for the Herts Girls 7's, which is an open Tournament and is taking place at Tabard RFC on Sunday 18th May.

Prior to Easter the following Teams have confirmed their participation:

U15's:

• Tabard (Hosts).
• Welwyn.
• Reading.
• London Irish.
• Hertford.
• Basford.
• Saracens.

U18's:

• Reading.
• Hertford.
• Letchworth.
• Basford.

Interested Teams are advised to get their Entries in quickly as there is a limit of 16 Teams in each Section of the Tournament. Please contact me Laura-Jo Pearce on 07793809586 or tabardminis@hotmail.co.uk for further details.

Hertfordshire Women's XV county Squad Trials

On Sunday 13th April 2008 trials for the Hertfordshire Women's county team will be held at St Albans Rugby Club at 2pm. The trails are open to anyone who was born in, lives in or plays for a club in Hertfordshire and is 18 years old or older.

An inaugural fixture is planned for May and the aim is to form a squad of 30 which will have separate training sessions and will be entered into a county tournament in September.

Registration forms are available from clubs or from Samantha Field, 118 Riverside Road, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL1 1SE.

New and Emerging Schools Under 14 Competition - East Region

4 Schools took part in the Regional Section of the New and Emerging Schools Tournament including Nobel (Stevenage) and Chauncy (Ware). Unforfunately neither were able to progress to the National Stage of the Competition as Chauncy were 3rd and Nobel were 4th.

RFU bans all adult/child "mixed" sessions

Although RFUW have not issued the following, I think we can take it that this applies to the girls' and women's game as much as the male side, especially as the insurance we use is the same as that used in the male game:

"Following further incidents nationally where children have been seriously injured in "fun" or training session ending games involving adults, the RFU Equity, Health and Welfare has instructed that all clubs must comply with the Regulations and not allow such mixed age sessions in any circumstances. Failure to comply would invalidate insurance cover and could result in legal action against the adult involved and the club. Many clubs have held coaches -v- lads games at the end of season - this must not happen this year or in future. Please ensure this information is disseminated to all coaches in your clubs. The same restrictions of course also apply within schools."

(From Herts RFU website)

Clearly this will have implications for any girls - even top-end U18s - getting involved with adults in training sessions at clubs which have both senior and junior sections.

Get your Entries in for Herts Girls 7's

This year Tabard are hosting the Herts Girls 7's and we want to make it as much of a success as previous years. You should have all received your entry packs now if not details and entry forms are available from the Tabard website, link below. We will post information on the website as the planning progresses and the tournament draws nearer.

Any questions please contact me Laura-Jo on 07793809586 or tabardminis@hotmail.co.uk

http://www.tabardrfc.com/countygirls.htm

East Region v. South Region 16th March

Next Sundays East Region Game against South will be held at Harlow Rugby Club.

Harlow Rugby Club, Edinburgh Way, Harlow, Essex.

Please note, as that there will be limited parking at the Rugby Club, would all parents and supporters please use the trading estate next to the rugby club to park their cars.DO NOT PARK ON EDINBURGH WAY THE COUNCIL WILL TICKET OR TOW AWAY YOUR CAR.

Kick off is 2.30pm. All players are to arrive by 1.30pm latest.

Squad Details:

U18's - All squad members are included for this fixture.

U15's-
1 Alice Nee
2 Becky Dawson
3 Ellie Martin
4 Sydnie Grace
5 Frances Hughes
8 Alex Grant
9 Claire Shutler
10 Georgia Peedle
11 Rachael Burroughs
12 Sam Voyle
13 Emma Wilson
14 Alice Finn
15 Rachael Mcullough
16 Jess Harris
17 Megan Robson
18 Megan Childs
19 Lucie Wood
20 Maya Whitmore-Tennant
21 Layla Pickering
22 Maddy Lockwood.

Herts U15 Development Fixture

Whilst the Regional Players were away training, Welwyn hosted a 3 way U15 County Development Fixture between Herts, Kent and Middlesex. Over 20 Girls from 4 Herts Clubs (Saracens, Hertford, Old Albanians and Welwyn) plus two friends from Basford made up the Herts Squad. There was a roll-on roll-off policy throughout the afternoon to give all the Players as much game time experience as possible.

Herts drew both games: 10-10 against Kent (with Tries from Abi Lee and Shira Kilgannon) and then 5-5 against Middlesex (with a Try from Abi Maxwell). Middlesex beat Kent in the other game. With a number of this seasons Herts A team in their last season of U15 Rugby, many of the Girls that played in these games will be in contention for the Herts U15 A Team next season.

There is another U15 County Development Fixture this season on 27th April, and the venue and county's participating will be confirmed shortly.

U11s: Herts Youth Games

• U11 girls are reminded that Herts Youth Games are coming up, on 11th May. HYG is a tag tournament - but don't let that put you off as it is a terrific day out.
  
• Clubs are reminded that there will be up to 100 10-11 year old girls playing rugby at Hatfield that morning and afternoon - so if you are looking to recruit players this is the place to be!

Any girls in school years 5 and 6 can take part, and can play for the district they live in, go to school in OR play for a club in - so that means that no only will some girls have a choice about who they play for, but girls can also take part even if they do not actually live in Hertfordshire (so long as they meet one of the other requirements).

District council sports or recreation departments select teams - so girls need to contact them to tell them that they are interested. Some councils will select squads based on primary school tournaments, but there is no reason why they should not allow other girls to at least try out for the squad if they miss out on these tournaments. And in practice they are going to be delighted to have a few keen, experienced girls in their teams!

And if you district doesn't have a team... why not volunteer to run one for them? You'll never have a better recruitment opportunity.

U12s experience all four seasons in one match against Kent

In a game played in torrential rain, blazing sunshine, and all points in between Herts U12s fought hard against Kent today. This was much more inexperienced team than played against the same opposition at Hitchin in November, and that proved to be the difference against a more experienced opposition used to playing alongside each other as Kent ran out winners by 27-0. Herts were unlucky not to score - at least two of Kent's tries coming from breakaways after long periods of Herts pressure.

However, was that the girls clearly enjoyed the day - which is the main aim of the programme. U12 county rugby is all about giving girls more opportunities to get onto the field. It allows girls who have played little or no contact rugby to get a game, as well as encouraging girls who currently play mini rugby to stay in the game buy allowing them to play in an environment where they are not dominated (or ignored) because they are the only girl in the team.

The Herts U12 programme - which seems to be one of the largest and most active in the country has succeeded in these aims this year. Over 20 girls have played in a Hertfordshire shirt. While some of these girls are regular players, over half of those involved have either begun playing rugby at club level as a result, or revived rugby careers that had faltered. As a result we have gone some way to reduce the loss of girls from the game between the U9 and U12 age bands.

New and Emerging Schools Under 14 Rugby Festival - Hertfordshire Section Results

A total of 75 Girls from 5 Schools took part in the Herts Section of this National Tournament held at Welwyn RFC.

The 5 Schools participating were Marriotts (Stevenage) Nobel (Stevenage) Turnford (Broxborn) Chauncy (Ware) and Chancellors (Hatfield / Potters Bar) and the Winners were Chauncy, whilst the Runners-Up were Nobel. Chauncy now represent Herts at the Regional Section of the Tournament at Bishops Stortford on 12th March. We wish them the best of luck.

For many of the Girls it was their first experience of playing competitive Rugby and it is expected that some will continue to play at one of the choice of Girls Rugby Clubs in Herts.

East Region: blog replaces website

In case anyone has missed it, East Region are now using a blog instead of the old website for all news concerning both the senior and junior squads. The main news will continue to appear here on the Herts county blog, but not everything - so its worth keeping an eye on.

To help you do this the newsfeed from the East Blog appears at the top of the column to the left - here you will see links to the latest five articles on the East Blog, automatically updated when new articles appear. The link on the left under "Official rugby websites" has also now been changed to the new site.

Herts County U15 and Team Herts U12 March 9 fixture update

Welwyn RFC will now host a 3 way County U15 Development fixture on March 9 involving Herts, Kent and Middlesex. There will also a Herts U12 v. Kent U12 Game. Please can all teams meet at the Clubhouse at 1.00 and the Games should get underway from 1.30 onwards.

The U15 fixture has been organised on a Regional Training Date to give the 'next tier' of Players the opportunity to gain experience representing the County, as the 11 Herts U15 East Region Squad Players will be at Upminster. Depending on the number of U15 Players from Herts Girls Clubs that come to Welwyn on 9/3 we may even put out 2 Herts Development sides. Old Albanians hosted a 4 way U15 fixture today involving OA's, Saracens, Hertford and Welwyn and over 40 Players took part.

As well as the four Herts U15 teams that played at OA's today, Letchworth cluster with Ampthill, and Tabard (who host this seasons Herts Girls 7's) and Stevenage (who are actively recruiting) are in the early stages of setting up Girls Rugby Teams so the health of Girls Rugby in Herts is looking good at present.

Peter Mccullough
Herts Girls Rugby U15 Manager