Junior Report: Youth investment is paying off

The senior section certainly did the club proud, with the men’s firsts, the Vikings and the Valkyries all winning their respective fixtures.

The men’s first team also had a large number of players in the squad that had grown up playing in our mini and junior sections, with an average age in the squad of 21.

This we’re sure is no coincidence and is the direct result of continuous development of younger players at the club. Long may it continue.

Our minis certainly took heart from this when they stepped onto the field against sides from Malton and Hornsea on the weekend.

There were mixed results across our younger age groups, but the one noticeable difference between our club and the opposition sides, were the sheer number of players we had.

As these tournaments are about small-sided games, Scarborough were able to put out a high number of teams at each age group, where as other clubs could only manage to bring one or two sides.

Following the tournament the club received this wonderful piece of feedback from an opposition coach which I’d like to share with you this week:

“On behalf of everybody at Hornsea RUFC could you please thank all the coaches and volunteers at Scarborough RUFC for their incredible hospitability yesterday.

“All of our teams had a great day and this was largely due to all coaches and players willing to make the numbers equal and ensure that the games flowed, so there was little/no standing around.

“I looked after the under-nines on Sunday and it was great to see how many Scarborough players were willing to mix with our players and even a few high-fives for their Hornsea teammates when they scored. Thank you”

We’re always delighted to know the tournaments we host are received well, but are more happy when we hear that our players are so sporting and friendly, even at such a young age.

In the previous week our under-16s had a surprise defeat away at Beverley, but fortunately had the chance to rectify this with a return fixture on Sunday.

Losing 10-5 at half-time, I feared the worst for this side who aren’t accustomed to losing very often, but a remarkable second-half performance ensured a Scarborough win at the final whistle.

The side has now won sevenfixtures out of 12 this season and will look to continue their winning ways in the coming weeks, with five away games back-to-back.

This Sunday our under-16s side will be taking a well earned break, while our under-13s travel away to Driffield, our under-14s and under-15s play away at Bridlington and our under-17s take on a merged side from Thirsk and Ripon, 11.30am kick off.

Our minis will be travelling to Whitby to take part in some more fixtures, before returning to normal training again the following week.

On Monday the club hosted a pitch-up and play event in an attempt to attract more players to join our junior girls section.

The event was received really well and offered parents the chance to give the club some feedback on the development of the side and ideas on how to progress.

On Monday (February 8), we’ll be hosting another similar event - specific for women’s players.

So if you know anyone that’s considering trying a new sport, or may want to try rugby, please feel free to come along on Monday from 6pm-7.30pm for a fun-filled and light-hearted rugby session.

I’d like to finish by commenting on how well the club is currently adapting to the demand of the public in the Scarborough region.

One of the most brilliant things about coaching people is that every player is unique, but this also means individual players have individual needs.

Some players may struggle to get to the club at certain times due to issues with transport.

One thing the club has done in recent months is to provide a transport service from Filey to the rugby club so that players in that area can still train if they want to.

This is one of many steps the club is committed to making in the future so that our players have everything they need to develop and progress in the sport.

Thanks for reading,

Tomasz.