TOM CHADWICK: Golden Graham take play-off honours

The results of the fixtures are included below for years seven to 11, there were no conversions so scorelines are solely based on tries scored.

RESULTS:

Year 7: St Augustine’s 1-19 Lady Lumley’s

Year 8: St Augustine’s 4-8 Malton

Year 9: Graham 5-0 Malton

Malton 0-5 Ryedale

Ryedale 2-1 Graham

Year 10: Graham 12-10

Malton

Year 11: Graham 10-78 Ryedale

On the whole it was a tough event for our Scarborough Schools, but we must offer a massive congratulations to Graham School’s Year 10s, who have now progressed to the Yorkshire finals, a fantastic achievement.

This Sunday, while the majority of our minis will be participating in fixtures away at Driffield, our under-15s side, the ‘Odin’s Warriors’ will be playing in a Yorkshire Bowl semi-final against Old Rishworthians (12pm kick-off), with both teams looking to pick up some silverware as the season comes to an end.

As preparation for this important fixture, last Sunday our under-15s took on a resilient and well-drilled team from York.

The game was dominated by blustery conditions but with tries from Euan Govier, Jonty Holloway and Sean Mould the under-15s took the victory with a 17-10 scoreline.

Our under-17s side were also in action in the Yorkshire Cup on Sunday travelling to Ripon on a very windy day, which ended with some of the team helping to push stranded cars up Sutton Bank due to the snow.

Having narrowly lost out on the league title, this team are completely focussed on ending their season with some success and put in a ruthless and clinical performance, emerging winners with a very impressive 51-0 scoreline.

It is no surprise to me that early scores in this match came from Thomas Brookes, Ben Martin and Will Leah ,players who all regularly train at the club and play at Scarborough Sixth Form College.

It may sound simplistic, but there is a positive correlation between hard work and success and these boys are reaping the rewards for the effort they’re putting in week in, week out.

The under-16s side will be playing in a three-way fixture at Driffield with opposition from the hosts and from Malton.

This will be a great developmental fixture for our under-16s, who will also be siding with Bridlington on the day.

A fantastic statement for rugby, where two rival teams will combine to continue their enjoyment within the sport.

On Monday evening, coaches from Yorkshire Carnegie came to Silver Royd to coach our ladies team the Valkyries.

The session itself was productive and at times provided quality entertainment to those watching.

I’m excited to mention that prior to the session, I had met with officials from Yorkshire Carnegie and we’re now going to be hosting an entire club day out to their last fixture of the season on the April 25.

This would be a fantastic way for Scarborough RUFC to wind down at the end of the season, with teams from all ages, boys and girls, men and women, travelling together for one fun-filled day in Leeds.

On Tuesday, the club put on a positional session for all scrum-halfs and fly-halfs at the club.

Here numerous senior players and coaches offered their time and expertise to teach our younger players certain tricks of the trade.

This session was all organised by Keith Marshall our club’s transition officer.

It’s Keith’s role to try and encourage our younger players to keep playing once junior rugby makes the step to senior rugby and he has been doing a fantastic job since his appointment.

It is also a fine example of how Scarborough RUFC works as one organism, trying to help the development of all players, regardless of age or gender, with all teams and players encouraging each other and offering assistance where possible.

Another example of this is the Else family.

Matty Else has been playing for Scarborough’s first team for multiple decades now, his sons play in our junior teams, and his daughter is a key player in our newly formed under-13s girls side.

Matty also coaches the under-14s and his wife Thelma is their team manager.

They are a perfect example of how this club can play a central role in people’s lives for the better and are all wonderful people to work with.

In another attempt to strengthen the minis/juniors to seniors link, we had another Active Youth trainer of the week, and on Saturday it was Ieuan Jones.

Ieuan has been a pleasure to coach throughout this season and always turns up to training with a big grin on his face.

It was so nice to see how happy both he and his family were, while he was our official mascot which makes me confident this will be a scheme that will last for a long time.

New concepts like the Active Youth trainer of the week are what drives the club forwards.

Our chief executive Graeme Young is a great example of this, offering new thoughts and ideas on a regular basis.

This Sunday we began a new recycle old boots scheme, where any old boots are collected and stored at the club so if any mini or junior player ever forgets theirs, they can still participate in training or matches.

This idea was a thought of Graeme’s the week before, and a perfect example of how all people connected with our club can have a positive impact, helping us to make little additions which will drive our club forwards in the long run.

If you’re connected with the club in any sense and feel like you could offer some thoughts on how we could improve, please feel free to get in touch, we’d love to hear your thoughts.