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John Manson, Regional Development Manager for Central rounds up developments in his area. DO's Keep In Touch Central Rugby’s Club Development Officers have been busy over the summer months organising and running summer rugby camps at Alloa, Hillfoots, Falkirk , Grangemouth, McLaren, Strathendrick and Stirling County rugby clubs. Over 400 children, aged from 5 to 16, relished the opportunity to have fun and improve their rugby skills during the better (well, sometimes!) weather. There were also three highly successful Touch Tournaments in Central. Stirling County , Hillfoots and Grangemouth rugby clubs all hosted events catering for the young and old of all abilities. Over 300 players took part in the events that will hopefully become regular fixtures in the Central rugby calendar. Three new Central SVQ Apprentices start in August – Jason Morgan and Ashley Ireland will work as part of the Clackmannanshire Rugby Development Team and Christian Wallace (Grangemouth Rugby Club) will work alongside Graham Lindsay, the Falkirk Club Development Officer. These new appointments, along with the three apprentices staying on into the second year, will increase the number of apprentices to six supporting the Club Development Officers across the Central area. On Target Central Rugby’s Strategic Targets for season 2006-07 were mostly achieved and in some cases surpassed – the number of adult women rugby players rose by 112%, and there was a 62% increase in the number of coaches working in the community game, for example. Thanks must go to the local development groups, Club Development Officers, SVQ rugby apprentices, club volunteers and schools staff for their hard work. The local development groups will be meeting in August to map out the forthcoming season with the Rugby Development Staff to ensure that the structures are in place to continue the growth in numbers playing the game. Top of the list will be the very popular UKCC Programme where the club representatives will be keen to get the next Central course details in place. Fun and Games The Central Rugby Festival Programme, involving monthly P4/5, P6/7 and S1/2 festivals hosted by each of the Central clubs, is about to get underway. The programme, to be run from September to December and March to May each season, aims to reduce the amount of cancelled fixtures due to bad weather. It’s also hoped that the locality of the festivals will reduce travel expenditure and time commitment for clubs and volunteers alike. Dates and venues are as follows: Sunday 30 September Sunday 28 October Sunday 25 November Sunday 30 March Sunday 27 April Sunday 25 May Although the festivals will focus on player development, with coaches ensuring that all players get equal game time to develop their skills, all the clubs are free to organise fixtures (competitive or otherwise) to fill the rest of their calendar. Central clubs have mascots present at each of the August Tests and next year’s home Six Nations matches, as reward for taking part in community rugby in their area. The lucky youngsters come from Grangemouth RFC, Hillfoots RFC, Alloa RFC, Falkirk RFC, McLaren RFC, Bannockburn RFC, Strathendrick RFC and Stirling County RFC. On a personal note I would like to thank Slimfast for the excellent sponsorship of the RDO’s, I personally lost over two pounds in just over six months following their fantastic diet plan. If you would like to learn more about my experiences on the diet and receive a free sample, visit www.slimfastrdos.com John Mason Regional Development Manger
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