London Scottish teamed up with neighbour club London Welsh to run the first ever Exiles Rugby Camp. The camp ran over three days and saw youngsters aged 6-16 from both clubs come together to learn the game of rugby during their half term break.
Day one of the camp was held at Old Deer Park, the home of London Welsh with days two and three being held at the Athletic Ground. The youngsters attending were treated to coaching from both London Welsh and London Scottish community coaches as well as guest sessions from London Welsh professional players Lovejoy Chatawama and Rob Lewis on day two.
The day was a huge success for both clubs and really promoted the core values of the game by allowing young rugby players from both clubs to engage with each other and at times compete against each other, whilst forming friendships along the way. This camp promoted what the game of rugby is all about and is definitely something that we will be looking to replicate again either later in the season or early next season.
The next half term rugby camp will run at the Athletic Ground during the February half term break over three days from Tuesday 14th February – Thursday 16th February 2017.
The community programme have also continued the partnership with CSR partner the National Citizen Service (NCS). The (community) programme has worked with their Challenge Network programme for a number of years now and has recently started working with their HeadStart programme which is a volunteering programme that helps young people connect with their local communities.
During the months of November and December 10 volunteers from HeadStart programme will be volunteering at the club to help with the amateur side of the club on Sunday morning, assisting coaches with mini's training whilst learning how to coach the game.
An Educational Rugby Partnership (ERP) with Southborough High School has been formed as the club look to establish closer links with the school. The community team have been working with Year 7-10 pupils during the Autumn term on a Monday afternoon after school. With an increased number of pupils attending the after school sessions and the schools rugby programme going from strength to strength the school have now agreed to transport pupils to the Athletic Ground every Wednesday evening to join London Scottish junior training.
James Colbert Head of P.E. at Southborough will be transporting 30 pupils aged 11-15 to the Athletic Ground every Wednesday evening to join junior training from 6.30-7.30pm. The school has kindly agreed to provide transport for any pupils interested for a six week duration, thereafter it will be the responsibility of the pupil to make their own way to training with the school providing support were necessary. We are hugely excited to be working more closely with the school and look forward to reaping the benefits within the junior section.
On Friday for the Richmond match we welcomed The Mall School to the Athletic Ground who had been taking part in a pre match coaching session with London Scottish community coaches and professional players. They also stood as Guard of Honour for the 1st XV fixture, we throughly hope that you enjoyed your day out at the Athletic Ground. C'mon Scottish!
Mini & Junior Rugby Write Up
After the success of the mini's festival in October the mini's section enjoyed a welcome break during the October half term. A number of age groups continued to train through the school break however most took the chance to have a couple of Sunday's off and recharge the batteries before another busy period in the lead up to the Christmas.
On the 6th of November the U7-U11 age groups welcomed local club Chiswick to the Athletic Ground for a joint training session and fixtures whilst the U12s ran a training session to prepare for their first league fixtures. With the sun shining on a crisp November morning the day was a huge success with all players leaving with a burger in hand and a smile on their face. Many thanks to Chiswick for making the trip, we hope to see you in a return leg later in the season.
Last Sunday saw the U7-U11 age groups welcome Hampstead RFC to the Athletic Ground whilst the U12s travelled to local club Teddington to play in their first round of league fixtures against both host club Teddington and Wasps. Next up this weekend all mini's age groups (U7-U12) welcome local club Grasshoppers to the Athletic Ground. Good luck to all involved!
For the junior section there were a number of fixtures last weekend, the U13s played Bracknell in a friendly fixture at the Athletic Ground whilst the U18s travelled to Camberley. With the U15s league fixture against Harrow postponed until February it was training for both the U13s and U15s. The girls played their first fixtures in the RFU club cup.
For more information about our thriving mini & junior section please contact Mini Rugby Manager Ross Peacock on ross.peacock@londonscottish.com.
