Melbourne Juniors
In season 2010 we will be running the following teams
Junior pre season starts on 16th March and then
- Under 12 and Under 14 every Tuesday and Thursday
- Under 6, Under 7, Under 8 and Under 10 Thursdays only
Venue: Como Park Nth, Cnr Williams Rd & Alexandra Av, South Yarra
(Melways 58 G2 & 2M D3)
Time: 5:00 pm for 5:30 start
Duration: 1 hour
Tuesday 12th April - Training Moves to Orrong Park
Venue: Romanis Reserve/Orrong Park
Location: Orrong Rd Prahran (between Commercial Rd and High Street, Prahran (Melway: 58 D5
Saturday 1st May - Junior Competition begins
The Melbourne Rugby Union Football Club junior’s offers a well run family oriented programme based on the ARU model, Coaching Kids Rugby, which aims to develop life long rugby fans and long term rugby players. We look forward to watching the current U6 boys and girls play for the Wallabies and Wallaroos one day!
On joining our club your child is immediately placed into a team environment so there is an emphasis on developing sports and life skills. Our coaches are ARU Smart Rugby accredited and have passed their Vic State Governments mandatory 'Working with Children' check.
Rugby is a lifestyle sport suitable to boys and girls of all shapes and sizes, and fitness levels. Rugby provides an opportunity to develop sporting and confidence skills, and to become more resilient through the development of life skills including commitment, sportsmanship, leadership, determination, self confidence, courage and teamwork.
In the season 2010 we will field U6, U7, U8, U9 and U10 or two U10s, U12 and U14 teams. Age is determined at the 1 January each year e.g. if your child is nine years old on the 1 January 2010 then your child will be eligible to play in Melbourne’s U10 team.
Our teams play in the Victorian Rugby Union’s junior competition which features club sides from across Melbourne. In 2009 this competition was graded with U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, and U18’s and players were assigned to each age grade based on a two year age window. In 2009 we fielded two sides in the U8 and U10 competition and our U6 team was a training side which proudly wore the club jersey each Thursday evening.
Our youngest members start touch rugby and progressively contact elements of the game are introduced from the age of 8 years. Both boys and girls are encouraged to play to U12’s and adolescent boys from ages U13.
Our U6 to U10 sides train on Thursday evening, our U12 and U14 sides train Tuesday and Thursday evening. Training commences at 5:00 pm for a 5:30 pm start and finish at 6:30 pm. There is a children’s play ground adjoining our grounds which is often used by our younger juniors before training.
Each Thursday evening the club junior club operates a BBQ and sells drinks to feed our hungry juniors after training. Our U10 and U12 players provide ball boy duties for the senior home games on a roster system.
We operate a boot pool so that last year’s boots can be donated to another junior so please bring them along. You cannot take out a pair of boots unless you donate a pair or make a small monetary donation to the Club.
There are a number of club memberships available including individual junior, family and Presidents club. Click here to find out more. To arrange for your child to play rugby at Melbourne all you need to do is simply fill out the membership application form and turn-up to our club grounds for training.
Click here to read the report on the 2009 season
If you have any queries about our programme please contact our junior coordinator Nick Farnan on 0438 266 205 or by email.
Junior Committee
The administrative structure for the 2010 season includes the following people:
Administration:
Junior Co-ordinator Nick Farnan email 0438 266 205
Treasurer Owain Stone email 0402 893 301
Registrar Danielle O’Brien email 0421 994 466
VRU Co-ordination Simon Bracegirdle email 0400 545 616
General Committee Nicky Keys email 03 9509 1334
General Committee Tyrone Landsman email 0417 241 882
Club General Manager John Zarb email 0425 845 338
Sub committees:
BBQ Richard Downing
Photographer Brian Stapleton
The Junior Committee offers a vibrant and fun environment for the adults to contribute to the success of Melbourne’s junior rugby club.
Whilst we have a club general manager as a sports club we rely predominately on volunteers to service and manage the Club’s broad activities. We encourage you to get involved and every volunteer will get a job each season. Volunteer positions include:
The job description for each position includes the following:
Coaching
The coaching structure for the 2010 season includes the following people:
Under 6 Adam McKenzie email 0400 282 967
Under 7 Tyrone Landsman email 0417 241 882
Under 8 Daniel Fahy email 0408 389 1060
Nick Farnan email 0438 266 205
Under 9 Greg Fergus email 0418 996 942
Under 10 Simon Webster email 0407 833 308
Under 12 Miles Cunningham email 0408 996 320
Under 14 Simon Bracegirdle email 0400 545 616
Spiros Livadaras email 0402 888 011
Parents are most welcome to offer to assist with team coaching and management. New families are encouraged to contact the Club’s junior co-ordinator as to what team your child should be playing for and as to how the club operates.
Safety First
Rugby union is one of the safest team sports played in Australia. Research suggests that rugby union has fewer injuries than the other major sporting codes including netball, basketball, aussie rules, rugby league, and soccer. All of our coaches are "Smart Rugby" accredited.
Coaching Accreditation
Our coaches are "Smart Rugby" accredited to comply with the Australian Rugby Union’s coaching program. The Victorian Rugby Union offers a coaching pathway program. If you are interested in gaining accreditation to coach please contact the Victorian Rugby Union on +61 3 9529 1377 or by email.
Working with Children Check
In 2006, the Victorian Government introduced a new checking system to help protect children under 18 years of age from physical or sexual harm.
The "Working with Children" (WWC) Check creates a mandatory minimum checking standard across Victoria. The WWC Check helps to keep children safe by preventing those who pose a risk to the safety of children from working with them, in either paid or volunteer work.
This check form can be obtained from any Australian Post Office. Click here for more information
All of our coaches and managers have a mandatory obligation to complete their "Working With Children" Check before volunteering to work at our club.
Competition Rules
The junior player pathway commences with modified forms of the adult game including:
Walla Rugby - U6 to U8 year olds;
Mini Rugby - U9 to U10 year olds;
Midi Rugby - U11 to U12 year olds; and
U19 Rules - U13 to U19 year olds.
Each pathway form of the game have been specially adapted to meet sporting and community needs and expectations for the player's stage of development, physical capability, health status, skill level and previous experience. They are safe to play yet still challenging. The modifications include the level of contact, size of the ball, the playing area, the length of games and the playing numbers on the field.
Walla Rugby - U6 to U8 year olds
As the first introduction to the game, Walla Rugby is played on a modified field (40m x 25m) to cater for the younger age group, ensuring that each player will experience maximum involvement. It is a simple 7 aside touch rugby, non-tackling introduction to the game. It has been designed to focus on the game principles of possession, go forward and pressure; the individual skills to catch and pass, run and evade, and touch (tag); as well as the game elements of ball take, scrum and lineout.
Mini Rugby - U9 to U10 years
Mini Rugby continues the theme of free-flowing running and passing rugby action and introduces the younger players to the contact elements of the game. It has been designed to teach and continue the development of the game principles of possession, go forward and pressure with greater emphasis on the tactical principle of support. It also teaches the individual skills of catch and pass, run and evade, contact, kicking and tackling, as well as the game elements of ruck, maul, scrum and lineout. Mini is played on a smaller field (60m x 35m) with 10 players in each team.
Midi Rugby - U11 to U12 years
Midi rugby is the stepping-stone to the full game. It is played between 12 or 15 players on a standard size field, with more elements of the U19 game being introduced. It has been designed to teach the game principles of possession, go forward and pressure, support with greater emphasis on the principle of continuity. It also teaches the individual skills of Passing and Receiving; catch and pass, run and evade, contact, kicking and tackling, as well as the game elements of ruck, maul, scrum and lineout.
U19 Rugby - U13 to U19 years
U19 rugby includes all of the elements of the adult game expect for scrummaging which is limited to a scrum movement to a maximum of 1m.
