Under 11's
Sunday April 10th: Aylesbury Tournament - we took two squads including our newly registered players Scott Elliot and Connor McAllister - a great end to the season with both squads performing well!
Sunday April 3rd: Training at Amersham - usual time (10 'til 12)
Sunday March 27th: Great results at Marlow! - both squads played well and reached the Plate finals from very strong pools - U11Bs won the Plate, beating Marlow in the final - particular mention for William McGinn (who ran like a gazelle) and Freddie Palmer-Jones (fantastic play in his first tournament in a Chiltern shirt); U11As shared the Plate, drawing with Henley in the final. Special thanks to the coaches: Peter, Graham, Paul and Ian. We all had a good day in the sun!!
Sunday March 20th: WE ARE ON TOUR!! There will be training at Amersham for those people who couldn't join us for the weekend - see you next week in Marlow!!
Sunday March 13th: Tring A Tournament and training for others at home (usual time: 10 'til 12). Tournament squad will be notified by e-mail.
Sunday March 6th: our B team took part in the Beaconsfield 'B' Festival - with other participants including Windsor, Chess Valley, Chesham and London Irish. This was a well-organised event - and the sun shone (eventually!) - well done to all the players, especially Freddie Peck, player of the tournament for our team, and a huge thank you to our coaches: Andy, Paul and Hamish.
Sunday February 27th: we held our Development Tournament providing the opportunity for a number of new players to take part in their first competition. Our visitors were Old Albanians and Windsor - all matches were played in great spirit and were hard fought. The winners were Old Albanians, with Amersham & Chiltern and Windsor in joint second place.
Sunday January 30th: we hosted visitors from Henley and Marlow for training fixture - which was played in great style, despite a delayed start due to hard ground!!
Sunday January 23rd: we hosted Windsor and Bracknell for a training fixture at Amersham - a great opportunity to get some good match practice in for our A and B squads (though it was a bit on the chilly side for the committed spectators!)
Sunday November 21st: we welcomed Tring to a training fixture at Amersham - although both sides were under-represented due to conflicting schools fixtures the players who did participate all played well and in good spirit!
Saracens A Tournament - Sunday November 14th - was a very muddy event! We struggled through the first match but then pulled together well and played some good rugby - in sticky conditions .....
On Sunday October 31st we played in the Beaconsfield Tournament - all players gave their all in soggy conditions! The B squad won all their matches and the Cup for that competition; the As won all but one of their matches - losing a hard-fought game to a strong and well-drilled Brighton side who went on to win the A competition (we were runners-up).
Saturday October 16th: a mixed squad of players won the Saracens Cup, beating strong opposition including Chesham, Bishops Stortford and Cheshunt in the group stage, Northampton Scouts in the semis and Colchester in the final. Most of the squad followed this with a trip to Wembley to watch the Saracens v Leinster Heineken Cup match. Before the match we led the Pride in Unity Parade around Wembley stadium:
Well done!! To all our players, coaches and parents/supporters - at the Amersham tournament on Sunday October 10th both A and B squads played great rugby, with the As winning their competition and the Bs runners up.
Watch this space for photos of the day - and many thanks to everyone who made the event so enjoyable, including our visitors from Beaconsfield, Chesham, Bracknell, Saracens, Windsor and Tring.
Welcome Back to a new season of rugby at Amersham & Chiltern!
A note about the laws and some of the challenges facing us this season in U11s:
1. 12 a side. 5 forwards, 7 backs. Match squads of 15
2. Size 4 rugby ball
3. Pitch size max is 60m x 43m plus 5m for each in goal area
4. 20 minutes each way, no longer than 40 minutes
5. Scrums are contested. 2nd Row to bind at the hips
6. Offside line - scrum half must be behind the hind most foot of the scrum until the ball is out
7. Lineouts are contested. Between 2 and 4 players 7m from the touchline. 5th player throws in. Quick throw/lineouts not allowed
8. Offside lineout 10m from touch
9. No hand offs, barging
10. Kicking is allowed to start the game by means of drop kick. The receiving team must be 7m back and unless the kick has been caught by the receiving team the attacking side cannot touch the ball unless it has travelled 7m. Infringement of this law will result in a scrum on the centre spot (receiving side's put in). If the ball goes directly into touch the receiving side may elect for the kick to be taken again, accept a scrum with their put in or a lineout.
Scrums - as there are now 5 man scrums it is more important than ever that players, coaches and parents ensure this is done correctly so as to minimise risk of injury. Coaches will continue to devote time to the forwards and the technical issues in dealing with scrums so that the forwards understand fully their respective positions and what is required. Parents and squad members will be obliged to notify the coaches of any injury which may compromise the safety of the scrum (and therefore the players).
Positions - we are obliged to ensure as many players as possible experience different positions. With few exceptions and having regard for physical attributes this will continue, irrespective of parents' or squad members' preferences as to where the squad member will play. As the squad gets older and becomes more physically developed then the differential between forwards and backs will become more pronounced but it will be some time before players become chosen for any particular position.
Kicking - we know it is all very exciting but previous coaching experience with other age groups has shown that half the training/playing time can be lost while each squad member wants to prove they are the next England (Ireland/Wales/Scotland etc etc) fly half. Balls will fly everywhere and apart from the disruption to other age groups time and patience will expire long before any positive outcome is achieved. No more about kicking - except please respect the coaches' decision at any particular time regarding the use of a kicked ball.
Availability - please reply to e-mails. If you are not available having said that you are (or vice versa) please let Jane know without delay. If you do not reply in a timely fashion we will assume you are not available.
Well done! - to all players, parents and coaches who played/supported/encouraged during a particularly wet Sunday morning on October 3rd. Those players who travelled to Windsor performed brilliantly and were unlucky not to make it through to the play-offs, having comprehensively won 3 of their 4 league games - and those who stayed at Amersham had a great training session in preparation for our own tournament (see below).
DON'T FORGET GUMSHIELDS!!