For the last few years we have been focusing our coaching on core skills and emphasising that training and playing should, first and foremost, be fun, for both adults and children.
As part of this proactive policy we have:-
• Embraced the RFU’s TREDS directive
• Scrapped streaming
• Boosted participation
• Focused on core skills and taught them through the use of games
We have also adhered to the RFU structured season for youngsters, which ensures they get a break from rugby in the summer.
As a club that prides itself on fostering inclusion, it will come as no surprise that we will be embracing the RFU’s Half-A-Game initiative, which puts participation as a priority over winning. It beggars belief that there remains a view that a competition based “win at all costs” approach is the best way to develop young rugby players. Fortunately, this view is in the minority, but it is held by some parents, mostly dads, and most of them living vicariously through their children. Had this out-dated approach not have gained traction among English clubs, the RFU would never have needed to introduce the Half-A-Game directive in the first place. I applaud the RFU for its focus on fun, the excellent TREDS initiative, standing-up to elitist dinosaurs and making sure that youngsters get a break from rugby rather than being flogged throughout the summer.
We should take great pride in our achievements as a club, but there is still much to be done, especially if we want players from within our youth section to feature as a key component of the Rams squads that will now campaign in National 1. The irony is that focusing on fun and skills produces adult rugby players that are able to compete at higher levels. It is those that make winning a priority for children that are uncompetitive. The growing swathe of evidence is that the players performing at the very highest level have skills, friends and a deep love of the game. Let’s make sure Rams’ young players have these three attributes in abundance.
I wish you all a very enjoyable summer.

Gary Reynolds