TOM CHADWICK: Hectic month ahead for juniors

The penultimate, and by some way my most intensive, month of the year is already in full swing.
Tom Chadwick's junior newsTom Chadwick's junior news
Tom Chadwick's junior news

As well as being in the thick of the rugby season, all schools are putting in final preparations for the start of the annual Scarborough school rugby tournaments.

Hosted at Scarborough RUFC, all age groups in all secondary schools in the area are invited to participate in a tournament against one another.

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I’m delighted that this year we will be expanding this to all girls as well.

This month promises to be a busy one but I always prefer to be on my toes than twiddling my thumbs.

The Active Youth Scheme is showing no signs of slowing down either, with lots of progress and fresh ideas coming to the Scarborough region now half-term is over.

At this point last year, the scheme was in its infancy.

But now, with increased support from McCain, we’re looking to expand the scheme further and reach more of our youth than ever before.

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I’m currently offering rugby coaching to our secondary schools, but with the first school tournament ever for girls rugby also taking place in November, both myself and community coaches within the RFU will be offering more specific support to all girls that want to play.

In doing so, we hope that any new players have the best grounding possible when trying out the sport for the first time.

The great thing about the Active Youth Scheme is that it’s not specific to a certain gender, age group or sport.

We’re trying our best to promote healthy lifestyles in the youth and I’m in a very fortunate position where I can use rugby to trigger this.

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I love nothing more than when a youngster who has never seen or touched a rugby ball, takes part in a session I coach and then asks me if they can come and play at the club after.

It really is a rewarding aspect to my job.

We’d love to see anyone interested in playing the sport come to Scarborough RUFC as all of the youth in this region are always more than welcome.

Before I continue, I’d like to offer a big congratulations to our under-14s, under-15s and under-16s who all won away from home last Sunday as well.

These sides are continuing to progress well under their coaches which is a pleasure to see.

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And it’s official, The rugby world cup is now over. And what a fantastic spectacle the final was.

For any youngsters aspiring to be the best in the sport, I would advise watching the way New Zealand play. It’s very rare for an international team to be so dominant on the world stage in sport these days but year after year they prove to be very close to unbeatable.

An added positive story to come from the event itself took place after the match.

A child, clearly too excited by the occasion, managed to jump over the hoardings and on to the pitch before being wrestled to the floor by a steward.

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Seeing this, World Cup winner Sonny Bill Williams, helped the child up, took him back to his parents, and gave him his own World Cup winner’s medal.

I was also humbled to see the interview from the losing Australian captain, who when questioned on the result, spoke only of respect for the winning side New Zealand, and didn’t want to say anything that wasn’t complimentary to the side that had just won.

Considering what was at stake in the match, I think this took outstanding discipline and character. These little things won’t get as much coverage as the final itself, but it’s exactly what rugby is all about and makes me proud to be working in the sport.

It’s one thing telling parents that the sport can be one of the best ways to help raise a child, but it’s another thing to truly believe it too.