Cornwall RFU U7 and U8 Festival Falmouth Rugby 2023 Overview

FALMOUTH RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB TR11 2FB

SUN 30TH APR 2023 YOUTH ACADEMY

Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship

WELCOME

Many thanks for registering to bring a team to the 2023 CRFU Under 7s and Under 8s County Festival. We hope you will find all the information that you require in this information pack – please feel free to pass the link on to parents and players.

The emphasis of the Festival is on the fun aspects of playing rugby and after discussion and agreement with the CRFU Mini-Junior Committee we have decided to continue to run the U7s & U8s Festival on a “friendly” basis. This effectively means that there will be no semi-final and finals and no outright winner of the pools or the competition.

We will be running a number of rugby related games alongside the matches, which all teams can use – These are being provided just for the children’s enjoyment and there will be no prizes awarded.

The day is all about the children having fun and creating rugby memories – please can you ensure that all spectators, players and coaches follow the RFU codes of conduct to ensure that everyone has a positive experience of the day, i.e. lots of praise and encouragement to your team and the opposition. If on the day you see or hear something negative that you feel needs dealing with, please do not hesitate to give Melody (07977 559348) or Mark (07813 309116) a call.

Please respect the pitches and try and keep spectators behind the ropes and barriers. Please also respect the club house by not entering whilst wearing any dirty or muddy clothing. Please remove all rugby boots before entering the clubhouse.

If you have any queries, please contact us using the details provided.

Melody & Mark Hitchens Co Chairpersons

Falmouth Rugby Youth Academy

SCHEDULE

09:15-10:15am Registration

All teams to gather and report for registration in the Main Clubhouse conservatory. This County Festival is not being run as a competition, but as a Festival of Rugby. We ask that clubs provide a GMS generated list of players with their RFU registration numbers. All teams must be booked in by 10:15am.

10:30 Coaches Meeting

There will be a coaches and referee briefing at 10:30am sharp in the clubhouse to explain the format of the day and answer any questions. Clubs are expected to provide a referee for each team entering and a schedule for the referees will be arranged at the coaches meeting.

11:00

Festival

The first games are due to start at 11:00am sharp. We are expecting 18 clubs for each event with around 30 teams in both the Under 7s and Under 8s. We will be running each age group in four pools. A detailed schedule of matches is attached. PLEASE NOTE, THIS IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AND WILL BE CONFIRMED AT THE COACHES MEETING. We would expect to have around 5 or 6 matches for each team giving around an hour of rugby spread over the day. Our main aim will be to maximise the playing time for all participants, within the RFU guidelines. To achieve this, we plan for each match to be 8 minutes long with a 4 minute gap between each match.

Due to the number of participants, there will occasionally be gaps of up to an hour between matches. During this time, we have arranged some games to help keep the children entertained behind the posts.

3:30pm-4pm Festival Close

We are aiming to be finished between 3:30pm and 4pm – this may run late due to the numbers of teams involved. Timings will be given on the day – please can you ensure your teams are ready to start at the designated times and that games run for the allocated time so that we can try and keep on schedule as much as possible.

TREGENVERROAD

Tregenver Pitch 2

PITCH LAYOUT

*Below we have shown how the pitches will be laid out for age grade rugby. It is our intention to run these games on the Recreation Ground Pitch 1 (TR11 2FB). However this may be subject to change dependant on ground inspections on the day. *In the event of a change our alternative playing field will be Tregenver Pitch 2 (TR11 2QW).

Falmouth

Adult Education Centre

Entrance via Gate

GENERAL INFORMATION

Food

Please take advantage of our clubhouse with licenced bar serving hot and cold drinks all day. Falmouth Rugby Youth Academy will be running a BBQ, cake stall and tuck shop throughout the day. Although payment for the BBQ will be by either cash or card, the cake stall and tuck shop will be CASH ONLY. A tap supplying drinking water is located outside the main building, down a set of steps, as indicated on the site layout plan. This can be used to refill water bottles.

Car Parking

The club car park is not large enough to hold all the cars arriving at the event and will operate on a first come first served basis. Once our car park is full, we have arranged additional parking at Falmouth Adult Education Centre located at the other end of Tregenver Road. Please see plan below for location. We will have marshals covering the car parking in the morning so please head to the main entrance of the club off Dracaena Avenue. Our stewards will either park you or direct you to the nearest available car parking.

PLEASE DO NOT ARRIVE AT THE CLUB BEFORE 9AM.

Defibrillator Located At The Clubhouse

First Aid

Please can you bring your team’s first aid pack and also your qualified First Aider (where possible) to the Festival. We will run a first aid station inside the clubhouse which will be manned by Falmouth RFC first aiders throughout the day.

Toilet Facilities

Toilets are located within the main clubhouse. We ask that no boots are worn inside the clubhouse.

Weather

As we all know, the weather in Cornwall can be unpredictable to say the least! Please be prepared for a few showers – the clubhouse will be open to shelter in if needed. We would encourage players to bring a change of kit so that they can put dry clothing on if they get wet and protective clothing such as tracksuits and anoraks as it can still get very cold at this time of year. On the flip side, sun cream would also be an advantage!

If it looks as if the weather is looking too bad for the festival to run safely, a decision would be made to cancel by 5pm on Friday 28th at the very latest. In the event of cancellation, we will send you all an email confirming this. If you are in any doubt about the possibility of cancellation, please contact one of the numbers shown below.

Team Cancellation

If you find yourself unable to send a team to the Festival that you have booked with us, please let us know ASAP. It is essential that we know in good time - as it will affect the structure and timings of the games. If you are just a few players short – please still come as some teams have large numbers and we will arrange to “lend” players on the day to those teams that need them.

Dogs On Leads Welcome

Dogs are permitted onsite but must remain on a lead and under control at all times. Dogs are restricted to hardcore areas and the clubhouse. All dogs are strictly prohibited from the pitch and the grassed areas surrounding it (with the exception of Pitch 2 where we ask to keep to the outskirts and off any playing or activity areas).

Raffle

We will be selling raffle tickets throughout the day which will be drawn mid-afternoon, with prizes including signed Exeter Chiefs and Cornish Pirates merchandise. The purchase of tickets will be CASH ONLY.