MINI-JUNIORS

Mini-Junior Titans is the mini-junior section of Rotherham RUFC.

Junior rugby resumed at Rotherham RUFC after a break of several years, with the formation of an U13s squad for the 2004/05 season. The success of this squad, both in terms of the number of players and results on the field gave impetus to resurrecting a full mini junior section for the club.

The following two seasons saw a massive expansion of the section - in the 2006/07 season we ran teams at U7, U8, U9/U10, U11/12, U14 & U15 age groups with our U15 squad lifting the Yorkshire Plate at the end of the season and our U14 squad reaching the final of the Yorkshire Cup in their first year in the competition. Several of our U14 & U15 players have also been selected to represent district & county squads in South Yorkshire & Yorkshire.

2007/08 brings another new challenge for us - not only are we keeping our existing squads, but we will also be introducing squads to fill most of the gaps, with boys playing at all ages from U7 to U16, girls U7 to U12. The sucess of our section beings another new challenge - meeting the needs of facilities for all of our players. We look forward to joining forces with the first team, Rotherham RUFC and Sheffield Hallam University when we move to our new training ground at Brinsworth on Wednesday evenings. Sunday training and matches will continue at Wickersley School and Sports College following the successful trial of this facility by our junior squads in 2006/07.

To continue the development of our club we need a team of enthusiatic volunteers, with roles ranging from occasional help to regular team managers and coaches (any help is better than none, so don't be afraid to come forward). We offer a comprehensive training programme for all of our volunteers, which starts with an induction into the club and allows volunteers to progress to team managers, coaches, referees and management roles within the club. All of our coaches (and most of our other regular volunteers ) also undergo a police CRB check and we provide training in supporting activities such as child protection, equal opportunites and first aid to ensure that the training that we provide is the best that can be achieved.

During the last season we also ran Deaf Awareness courses and teamed up with England Deaf Rugby Union to run a deaf rugby development weekend in Rotherham.

As part of our continuous improvement we have a 5-year development plan and are actively working with the RFU to achieve the Clubmark Seal of Approval within the next 6-12 months.