In order to assist the integration of the various elements of Stourbridge Rugby a 'programme' has been devised by Robin and Mitch to introduce members of the Mini and Junior sections to the First XV players and coaching staff.

The opportunity is that for each away game, two members of an age group (coach or parent, male or female) will have the opportunity to travel on the team bus to away games with the idea to meet the team, shadow Mitch, to gain knowledge and get to know the lads.

The programme is being looked after by Gavin Teague (under 13s parent) and he will be contacting each age group to arrange. However, in the meantime, should you like to take part in one of the coach tours over the season, please advise your Team Manager; TMs please forward names to Emma Teague.

The first age group to take part were the under 12s, and their experience is detailed below - it appears to have been a great success!

Coach Away Day with First Team - 2nd September 2017

As one of the M&J coaches, under 12s in my case, on Saturday I took the opportunity of shadowing Mitch during the First XV away fixture at Otley. From the start I was made welcome by Robin, the coaching team, and the players.

During the journey Mitch went through their attack and defence plays, including their line outs. He also discussed briefly selection criteria and where, in his opinion, they were missing players.

When we arrived at the ground I was given access all areas, which included standing with the players whilst they went through their warm up drills, line out drills, stretching, etc. I was invited in the changing rooms to listen to the final directions at the start and at half-time. When the game kicked off I remained with the coaching team in the dugout, where I was privy to their decision making.

In my case, there was some stuff that doesn't apply to my group of players yet, but equally there was a lot which I can take back to my fellow coaches, eg. introducing both chop and choke tackles to prevent the off load, utilising a blitz defence on set plays, and a drift defence on open broken play and in attack changing the direction of attack, creating space.

I would recommend the day to all our coaches, regardless of your experience. If nothing else, you will make new friends, and get to know our first team better. Robin is keen to integrate all the teams at Stourbridge.

One last thing, it's worth sitting towards the front of the coach if you plan on having a clear head on Sunday!

Kind Regards
Derek Packham
U12s

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