As spring gradually dawns, we embarked on our end of season tour last weekend to the bright lights of Butlins Bognor Regis, where we participated in the Leicester Tigers Challenge Festival, a rare chance to enjoy competitive rugby against clubs from far and wide within the UK.

We fielded three mixed ability teams in a competition of 34 teams and we were immensely proud of how our young superstars performed. The Saturday saw teams competing in groups of four or five. Our teams won two of these groups, with the other finishing third in a group of five. This strength in depth is clear evidence that A&C was the strongest club at the festival, winning eight out of ten matches on day 1, especially as we were up against teams that had either only one or two teams; as an example, Beaconsfield RFC has a massive squad of players and only brought one streamed team to the festival. This difference in philosophy was apparent on day two when our top finishing teams were pitted against the winners of the other groups, where the opposition was naturally of a much higher standard. Nevertheless, both teams performed with passion, resilience, skill and amazing teamwork against some of the strongest opposition we have seen.

The remaining team had a slow start on day one with the players taking the first two games to gel as a unit. Once these teething problems were overcome, there was no holding them back. The remaining two games were won, including a thumping victory over local rivals Fullerians. This onslaught continued on day two with a landslide group victory delivered with a comprehensive walloping of Tring.

The coaches and parents were overwhelmed with the teamwork on display by all of the children. It’s not fair to pick out any individuals, suffice to say that the communication and interplay all of our players was absolutely fantastic.

Saturday evening saw our season awards and Head Coach Rob delivered a brilliant speech in celebration of what has been an amazing season. The main award winners are as follows:

Player of the season: Riley Asbridge

Most improved player: Sam Brown

Spirit of Rugby: Oliver Watson

Every Rose Award: Rose Gregory

Regrettably, Rose will no longer be permitted to play in boys rugby next year and we hope that she finds a ladies’ team to continue her rugby career. We thank her for commitment to the club since the U5 age group and although she will be sorely missed next season, we hope to see her regularly as our chief cheerleader! Coach Adam has not yet provided his twelve months’ notice for resigning his coaching position so he will be with us for the foreseeable future anyway!

Here is a group photo from tour along with some shots of the final ceremony.

Thanks to Kirsten Tolfree-Dart for all her efforts in organising, as well as all the coaches for their support and encouragement of the children. A massive thanks also to our sponsor IQ Student Accommodation (Matt Merrick) and United Trust Bank (Buster Tolfree-Dart) for their fantastic financial support which allows our teams to look so amazing in their tour shirts.

If you enjoyed the tour, make sure you book again for next year. If you didn’t tour with us, just speak to any of the parents and I am sure they will encourage you to attend.

A&C U11s - We salute you! Bring on the U12s!