Blog update

To note, I have changed the site the squad song is linked from.

Sunday 28 September

The sun shone on us again today. Training continued, as in the past weeks, based on practising core skills which included the old favourite of British Bulldog. We continue to have new players turning up each week to try out rugby with us which is great. For the next three weeks, as announced, there are the three festivals running which includes our home festival on 19 October where it is expected there will be 1,440 players taking part!

Albeit the weather has been good to us over the past couple of weeks, please make sure that if the weather does turn more inclement over the next few weeks, to make sure that everyone is wrapped up warm. Please see last weeks entry for points to note on attending festivals.

Sunday 21 September

Today was Try Rugby day and we had a few new faces turn up today to see what we are up to and join in the the Under 8's training session - we hope to see them next week having enjoyed an initial taster. Todays training built on last weeks in concentrating on the core skills that are so important in being able to play a good game of rugby. We had good weather again and while we often give reminders about wrapping the players up well against the cold weather, when we do have the good weather don't forget to bring plenty of fluids to hydrate the kids as they do do a lot of running around and get very hot (this will probably mean that I have tempted fate and next week will not be so warm).

The main website page should be updated soon to have the photos and names of all the coaches and managers who are involved with the Under 8's squad so you can put a name to a face of those involved in running the squad. If you have any queries then please grab someone and we will be pleased to help.

Having had three weeks of training and with three competitive festivals starting from Sunday 5 October, the teams will be selected during the next week and the selections communicated to you. Can we ask you to take note of the following points with regards to attendance at these festivals:

1. Make sure the kids have plenty of fluids and some food with them (try and avoid burgers etc on the day until we have finished playing. Light sandwiches, fruit etc makes more sense)
2. Bring layers of clothing - they need to stay warm and dry between matches - this is your responsibility
3. Make sure they pack gumshields
4. Please check their studs, and if in any doubt replace them. They need to have proper rugby studs - most sports/ school uniform shops supply them and they are a few quid for a pack.
5. Cost is £6 per player for the festival.

Sunday 14 September

Well, we had glorious sunshine for training today. There was a great turnout with 31 kids turning up. One of the drills included taking on a tackle bag which the children seemed to enjoy. In the second half of training there was some excellent rugby played with some straight running, good passing and a good use of space - well done! We have two more Sundays of training before we have three weekends of competitive fesitivals. The planned teams for the festivals will get announced during the week after next Sunday's training.

The third festival on 19 October, is the one that Camberley host and so, as normal we will need volunteers for parking, pitch marshalling etc. Please let Mike know ahead of our normal request for helpers if you are able to take on any of these posts.

Lastly as part of building team spirit we have decided to adopt the song 'Black and Gold' by Sam Sparro as the 'squad song'. We hope to be playing this at training sessions and festivals as a bit of fun for everyone to get into a good team spirit. There is a link to this song and video at this page (please note this is a direct link to 'Youtunes' web site if you would like to monitor access to this paarticular web address).

Sunday 7 September

This was the first day of training of the 2008/09 season. There was a good turn out and training consisted of playing practice matches and building on skills leant in the previous season. The weather held good, but the good news was that due to sponsorship won by Tracie Dugmore from RBS, we now have two tents we can use to shelter players (and maybe even parents) when the weather is a little more inclement.

Welcome

Hi and welcome. The aim of this blog is to keep all informed about matters that relate specifically to the under 8's squad. So don't forget to visit this site regularly to get up to date information on what has happened and what is going on.

The LINKS section on the right shows some useful links you may wish to check out.

Recent news appears as the latest post (at top of page).

If you want to send us feedback, feel free to use the Comments link on each post.