OPM's minis have had a fantastic start to their second season in operation, with 70 children registered and playing on the Plymouth College Grounds every Sunday morning at 10am. Howard Turner ran an excellent training session at the start of the season with lots of parents and club members taking on the challenge of becoming tag rugby coaches. Under great coach co-ordination by Chris Pascoe, our volunteers were ready for the season to begin.
Our ever enthusiastic Under 5s have been learning about spacial awareness and tagging skills through fun and simple games. They are starting to work well together in teams and are learning to pass the ball, as well as getting as muddy as possible! Our Under 6s have moved on to playing simple tag rugby games and learning about tactics. Both groups may seem a little chaotic at times (with children from the age of 3 in charge of a rugby ball!) but there is a logic to it underneath it all!
The Under 7s and 8s have had an exciting start to the season with their first experiences of competitive tag rugby, against teams in and around the Plymouth area. Under the careful guidance of lead coaches, John Halton and Tim Smale, they ventured to their first fixture against Devonport Services. The team came away with a cracking 9 - 3 victory and huge grins all around (making many of the main club members jealous!). The team have continued their run of victory over the Services being currently undefeated against the club. Other games, against Ivybridge, have produced close results, whilst further travels to Liskeard/Looe produced more wins for the mini team! A massive well done goes to all of those involved, and we wish them well as our Under 8s turn into the Under 9s next season and begin to play contact rugby.
The aim for the rest of the season is to continue to build on the successes of our eldest two teams, with further tag matches against local clubs. We will also be preparing our coaches to take on the challenge of teaching first time contact rugby. Any new members are of course always welcome just come along and have a go!
With four bustling teams and a fantastic crew of parents and club members taking on the vital roles as club volunteers, we have set a great foundation from which to build on for Junior Rugby at OPMs
Sarah Skinsley
Minis Club Chairwoman