Rugby First aid course - Sat 10th Jan 2009

We have managed to organise a Rugby first aid course for Sat 10th Jan 2009 all day (9.30 to 12.30 /1.00pm to 4pm.) in the club house.

The course will be run by Angie Mutch who is a qualified nurse and social worker. She was also a paramedic in the army and travels abroad to teach first aid to kids in deprived areas. She will issue first aid certificates at the end of the course (only if you know what to do!!!!) and will also do refreshers if we need them later in the year.

The course will consist of CPR for babies/kids /adults, general fractures, head injuries, neck injuries, studding(!) and the last hour will de dedicated to sports injuries.

It’s open to all coaches, parents and adult players and will be free to all who attend. .
All you need to bring is a packed lunch, wear comfy clothing that’s ok to get dirty and have a sense of humor!

Can you please get back to Caroline asap to reserve a place. Either on this email or phone: 01674 830763

Christmas Party

Montrose Sports Centre was filled with 70 players and siblings for our Christmas party. The afternoon started with a range of games with seven teams being led by coaches. There was everything from relays to coaches showing their competence with a hula hoop!

Players were then presented with a vast spread of food and drinks, provided by club families. Thanks to everyone who supported the day.

Foundation Course

We are looking to arrange an SRU Foundation coaching and refereeing course early in 2009. This will be for mums and dads and no previous knowledge of rugby is required.

Everyone who has completed the foundation course has enjoyed it. Please be assured that by doing this course, you are not signing up to coaching every week! The club will fund this course and if anyone is interested, please get in touch with Duncan or Caroline.

New Kitchen - Sat 27th / Sun 28th December 2008

The plans for the new kitchen are now coming together and we are intending to do the work over the weekend of 27th and 28th December. Donna Merino is coordinating everything and has secured the services of plumbers, joiners, builders and electricians along with materials (at no cost to the club).

As well as help over the weekend, we could still do with more cabinets and appliances. If you know of anyone stripping out a kitchen and has cabinets, an electric cooker or fridge going spare, please contact Donna on 01674 830048 or Donna@pertbruce.co.uk.

Montrose Mascot

As you can see, Sandy took the role of mascot very seriously. Simon Taylor (standing behind him) complained of earache all week from Sandy belting out Flower of Scotland at the top of his voice!

As well as the fantastic experience, Sandy was allowed to keep the full Scotland strip he wore on the day. He also had a rugby ball signed by all of the players and gave it to the club - Thanks.

Training Cancelled Today -Sun 30th Nov

Training is cancelled this weekend ( Sun 30th Nov. ). Due to the low temperature the ground is too hard.

If anyone wants to drop off sponsorship money or pay for training kit please come down for 10.00am.

See you all at the Christmas party next Saturday.

Race to Murrayfield - We did it!

Well done to everyone who took part in today's race to Murrayfield. With great enthusiasm from players, coaches and parents the total distance covered exceeded the necessary 330 laps of Union Park, despite the snowy conditions.



Two professional players from Edinburgh Rugby, Sean Crombie and Andrew Turnbull, came to Montrose to encourage the runners and they joined in a game of ‘touch’ rugby after everyone had finished.



Stuart Ross, the newly appointed Angus Rugby Development Officer, also joined in the day and commented on how impressed he was with the club.

Montrose Junior Rugby Braves the Weather to See Scotland Win

A party of 88 took two buses up to Aberdeen to watch Scotland take on Canada at Pittodrie. Scotland ended up deserved 41-0 winners.

Taking up the right top hand corner, the Montrose group were in fine voice. With Scotland's two first half tries scored under our nose, we were part of the action. The second half was kept lively with regular mexican waves!

While a chilly day, the snow stayed off until the final whistle and we all made it back to Montrose on time and intact. The only real concern was one parent who complained that they were still feeling really cold on the bus. This wasn't resolved until it was pointed out that their air vent above their seat was blowing on them!

Thanks to everyone for, yet again, being excellent ambassadors for Montrose Junior Rugby.

Matches against Brechin and Carnoustie.

Today saw teams from Brechin and Carnoustie visiting Montrose for a rugby festival at Union Park. With the increasing numbers of P1, 2 and 3 players, Montrose was able to field four teams and to loan some players to the visiting teams. There were two Montrose P4/5 teams and one for P6/7. Across all of the mini age groups, Montrose put in strong performances with excellent results against strong teams from Brechin and Carnoustie.

Les Gammie, Montrose coach stated “We had around one hundred and fifty children from P1 to S2 playing rugby at Union Park today, with sixty five from Montrose. The quality of rugby was of a very high standard at all age groups and it was great to see all clubs sharing players to ensure everyone was involved.”

Thank you to all the players and everyone who helped out.

Family Rugby

It is great to see we have coaches that can multi-task! Baby sitting and rucking practice at the same time...Will Stuart's talent's ever end?

Sponsored Run / Walk - 23rd November

Don't forget to start gathering your sponsors for the Montrose Junior Rugby race to Murrayfield on Sunday 23rd November. Whether it is relatives, friends or workmates, make sure they complete the gift aid details if they are a UK tax payer.

The sponsored run / walk is not limited to players. If brothers, sisters, family of friends want to take part, they are most welcome. The more we have, the greater the likelihood that we collectively cover the distance to Murrayfield.

To support the day, Edinburgh Rugby has promised to send along one of their pro-players. When we have more details, we will let you know.

P7s help out Brechin.

We were approached by Brechin minis as they were short of P 6/7 players for their matches against Strathmore and Carnoustie today. 5 of our p6/7 squad offered to help out and took part in all three games. Rob Mackie (Brechin Head Coach) said he was delighted with the commitment from all of our players and presented them with Brechin baseball caps. Ewan was also awarded the Brechin player of the day award.

Thank you to Kyle, Ross, Tom, Ewan and Robbie for taking part. They were all great ambassadors for Montrose Mini rugby.

Training for Secondary Pupils

Great news - Montrose junior rugby is now offering training for Secondary pupils from North Angus and South Aberdeenshire. The training times are Tuesday 6pm to 7.30pm and Sunday 11.00am to 12.00pm at Union Park, Montrose.

For more details go to : www.montrosejuniors.blogspot.com

Panmure Tournament

Well done to everyone who took part in the Panmure Tournament today. The quality of rugby and commitment from both the P4/5s and P6/7s was first class. While some results didn't go our way, we continued to play hard and kept our heads up. While we don't normally pick out individuals, there were outstanding performances in both teams. Ross was player of the day due to his amazing tackling and Angus was put in a skilled performance in both attack and defence to pick up the award for the P4/5s.

At the end of the tournament, when we were all asked to line up, there was only one group that kept quiet and stayed in the line - Montrose. Well done, this is every bit as important as your performance on the pitch so all coaches and parents were delighted.

Training next week in Montrose - see you then.

Banff Players in Montrose

Banff Minis made their first trip to Montrose, bringing Micros, P4/5s and P6/7s. The conditions were nothing short of perfect with warm weather, blue skies and soft ground. Banff had a lot of last minute call-offs but it was great to see so many Montrose players offering to play for Banff. With out these volunteers, we wouldn't have had competitive rugby today so a big thank you to anyone who played for Banff.

You can see some photos from the day here.

Thanks also to all of the coaches and helpers who supported the day and special mention to the kitchen helpers who seemed to sell everything they could put their hands on!

It is training next Sunday at Union Park at 10.00. If you are away during the holidays, have a great time.

Banff Games On!

The forecast for tomorrow is looking good (if a little cold) so the matches are on. We have had to make an early call as Banff have a bus booked and they are coming a long way.

Please get wrapped up and make every effort to come along tomorrow and make sure we give them the full Montrose hospitality!

If you can’t make it, please email us. See you at Union Park at 10.00am.

First Ever Micros Tournament

Teams from Blairgowrie, Brechin, Carnoustie and Strathmore came to Montrose for our first ever tournament for Micros. Around 80 children from P1 to P3 played non-contact ‘Tag’ rugby and the focus was on having fun. With strong numbers, Montrose fielded two teams and also provided players to other clubs. At the end of the session, there was an assault course for all of the players.

Thank you to all of the players, coaches, home bakers and other volunteers for helping to make the day such a success.

Matches at Brechin

50 players from Montrose Mini Rugby made their way to Brechin to play in their first matches of the 08/09 season. Micros (P1/2/3), P4/5 and P6/7 age groups were all represented and there was strong support for the Montrose players.

The micros played non-contact 'tag' rugby and there was an excellent display of skills, despite their young age. In the P4/5's we fielded two teams against a spirited Brechin side. Strong running and good passing was demonstrated by all the Montrose players and we can look forward to another successful season at this age group. Our P6/7 team started quickly and maintained a very high standard of rugby throughout. Philippe Magalon, P6/7 coach described the performance as "sublime"!

There are some more action shots from the game at http://picasaweb.google.com/MontroseMinis/MatchesAtBrechin. These have been shrunk down but if anyone wants bigger foles for printing, just let Duncan know. If anyone else has some good photos to upload, please email them to montroseminis@tiscali.co.uk.

Training Today

The weather isn’t great at the moment but the forecast if for it to improve. We will go ahead with training and if it takes a turn for the worse, we will stop early. If you choose to come, please make sure players are well wrapped up.

Canada Match - Last Call

We now have over 70 people going to the Scotland v Canada match in Aberdeen on 22nd November. We will be confirming our allocation with the SRU on Tuesday (2nd September). If anyone hasn't already let Caroline know and still wants to come, please send an email to montroseminis@tiscali.co.uk on or before Monday.

Welcome Back!

It was great to see so many familiar and new faces at training today. The fact that the sun was shining was an added bonus!

With over 40 players, 7 coaches and load of parents helping in the clubhouse, we are off to a fantastic start.

If anyone still needs forms or any other information, please contact us.

New Coaches for Montrose

Five more coaches from Montrose have completed the SRU combined Foundation Coaching and Refereeing course.

Kenny Christie (Angus Rugby Development Officer), Stuart, Chris, Ailsa, Harald, Sam and Bob Easton (SRU Referee Development Manager)

Well done to them all - we look forward to seeing you at training!

Summer Rugby Camps

The SRU are not running camps this summer as they failed to find a sponsor. This is a pity as the event in Dundee at Easter was very good. It is hoped that they will offer a full programme of courses for children next year.

A couple of commercial companies are running camps, Rugby Matters and Rugby Excellence. The details are:

Rugby Matters – Aberdeen, 14th to 18th July (http://www.sportmattersacademies.com/smg-35-Scotland--.html)

Rugby Excellence – Aberdeen, 21st to 25th July (http://www.rugby-excellence.co.uk/?page=Fixtures). Note that they seem to focus on tag rugby until players are 13.

Players from Montrose have attended previous Rugby Matters courses and they have been very good. I have no experience of Rugby Excellence. If anyone wants to go and would like to share lifts, please get in touch with Duncan.

There is a chance that Kenny Christie will be coordinating a rugby course for children in Montrose and details will be posted if this is going ahead.

Minis in The Review

Our fun day made it into the Montrose Review as well. Click here to see the full story and picture.

Stop Press

This picture and article can be found on page 5 of today's Courier.

Not only did our picture make it into today's Courier but every Newsagent in Montrose had this poster outside!

Fun Day - Surprise Guest!

We have just had some excellent news from the SRU. We are going to have an additional guest at the Fun Day on Sunday. A security guard is coming up from Edinburgh. That’s perhaps not too interesting in itself, but he is bringing up the Calcutta Cup – Yes the real one that Scotland and England compete for every year!

We have still to confirm times but we are expecting it to be at Union Park from 2pm. Hopefully, everyone will be able to get our photos taken with the cup. Who knows, it could be a few years before it is back in Scotland…

End of Season Fun Day - 25th May, 11.00 to 14.00

Thank you to all of the volunteers for the Fun Day. Please remember that all players, family and friends are welcome to come along and enjoy the day.

Outlined below is the programme for the day:

- 11.15 to 12.00 – Fun games for children (and the adults if they want to join in)
- 12.10 to 12.30 – Game of Hike - an adapted version of rugby for micros to grandparents!
- 13.15 to 13.30 – The Final Challenge (details on the day)
- 13.30 to 14.00 – Presentations for all players and prize giving

During the day, there will be face painting, bouncy castles and other activities, which will all be free of charge. Don’t worry, there will also be a home baking stall and a raffle if you want to spend your pennies!

We are having a barbecue and everyone will get two rolls (either burger or sausages) for their £2 admission charge. If anyone has any particular dietary requirements, please let us know. To prevent helpers being tied to the kitchen on the day, we would ask that you bring anything else you want to eat and that you bring your own drinks (non-alcoholic). There will be water available in the clubhouse.

St Andrew’s First Aid will be attending but hopefully we won’t need them.

Rampaging minis!

It can be pretty scary having some Montrose mini rugby stars running straight at you!

P1s and P2s

P3s, P4s and P5s

P6s and P7s (Nice 'air guitar'!)

Try of the season

Your vote could help choose the Scotland try of the year. Just go to this link and you can see all of the shorlisted tries.

I'm not sure why but Steve Beedie's flying swan dive during a game of touch doesn't seem to be there. This must be a technical problem...

Match Strips

Despite all the new strips we bought, we are running out of spares. If you are no longer coming to training, can you please return your match strip and shorts? Ideally, please bring it along to training on Sunday. If this is not possible, please email montroseminis@tiscali.co.uk and we can arrange a suitable pick up.

Thank you.

End of Season Fun Day

The plans are now coming together for the end of season fun day.

When: Sunday 25th May, 11.00 to 14.00
Where: Union Park, Montrose
Who: All players, families and volunteers who have contributed such a successful season.

Thank you to everyone who has already offered to help. We will need helpers for the day (supervising, catering, coordinating, tidying up…). We want as many volunteers as possible to share the load, ensuring everyone gets a chance to enjoy the day.

We already have some raffle prizes but further donations are welcome. We are having a home baking stall and donations are always welcome too!

This should be a great day and every player will be presented with something during the prize giving. Can I therefore ask that you try to get all players there, if possible? Also, please let us know roughly how many players and family members will be attending to make sure we don’t run out of burgers!

Strathmore Tournament

Montrose P4/5 and P6/7 teams put on a great display of rugby today at the Strathmore Tournament in Forfar. There were strong numbers for both teams and they continued to demonstrate the strong and skilled rugby that Montrose are keen to develop.

The P4/5s ended up unbeaten for the day and only just missed out on a place in the final. The P6/7s got off to great start with a convincing win against the Harlequins and showed fantastic commitment throughout the tournament.

As always, thanks to all of the coaches and parents who helped out.

Training with the Pro's

Well done to all of the players who went to the Scotland Training Camp in Dundee. The camp was held over three days and the focus was on the key skills of passing, running, tackling and support. Every player that attended the camp received a Scotland training jacket and have been sent a development action plan.

On the final day, players from Scotland's two professional rugby teams came along to support the session. As well as answering questions, they joined in the games!

Some of the Montrose players with Steve Swindall and Eric Milligan of Glasgow Warriors

The coaches commented on the Montrose players' skills, effort and politeness so thank you for being such good ambassadors for the club.

Training Cancelled Today

The icy wind looks set to bring snow shower throughout the morning. Therefore, it has been decided to cancel training today. See you all at training next week.

Old Kit

Kids have a very unfortunate habit of growing! Because of this, you can often have perfectly good rugby boots or training kit that are too small.

Please feel free to bring these along to training to offer to other parents. If you would like an email sent out or details put on the website, just send the size(s) and price you want to montroseminis@tiscali.co.uk .

Carnoustie Tournament

Well done to everyone who took part in the tournament at Carnoustie today. It was great to see such positive and aggressive rugby from all teams. The coaches also appreciated the spirit of rugby being displayed by those players who helped out other teams who were short of players.

The Micros played with real spirit and, despite a very small pitch, there was some good rugby played. Because of our strong squad, we provided players to Blairgowrie and Panmure. Thanks to all the players who volunteered and nobody needed to be asked – A real credit to Montrose.

The P4/5s had a fantastic day, only just losing out in the final to a very strong Panmure side. The effort from the players was phenomenal and all of the squad was needed to get through 4 tough matches. Player of the day goes to Kyle for his ‘raging bull’ runs up the pitch and aggressive defence.

The P4/5 team with their silver medals (Duncan R. missing)

The P6/7s played their usual battling rugby and despite some key players missing, they did very well in consecutive games against Carnoustie and Strathmore. “The best rugby I have seen the P6/7s play this year” was Les’ opinion. The entire team should be very proud of their efforts and player of the day for the P6/7s goes to Ross – a great performance, especially considering he only started playing rugby a couple of months ago.

As always, thanks to the parents and friends for coming along to support the teams.

This weekend

Here are the details for this weekend:

Micros
The tournament is going ahead this weekend (subject to the weather). We need as many micros as possible as we have been asked to enter two teams. Can you either be at Union Park for 9.50 or Forfar before 10.30? If any P1, P2 or P3 can’t make it, can you please let me know (01674 830763)?

P4/5s
Morgan no longer have any P4/5s so there will be no match for the P4/5s. We will have a training session instead. Please be at Union Park for a 10.00 start.

P6/7s
Morgan are bringing up 12 of the older age group and we will have a match and perhaps development session. Can all P6/7s be there for 10.00 (10.30 kick-off).

Easter Coaching Camps

The SRU pro teams are holding a rugby camp in Dundee from 9th to 11th April. The camp is for P5 to U16 and it is £55 for the 3 days, which seems good value.

If you are keen to go, send an email to Duncan (montroseminis@tiscali.co.uk) and he will forward an application form. If there are a number of players going down, we will try to coordinate lifts.

Training is on

Although it is frosty, the sun is strong. The ground has softened and the temperature in the sun is c. 6 degrees. We are going to go ahead with training but please wrap up.

See you at 10.00!

Rugby Kit in Montrose

Intersport on Murray Street in Montrose has a good selection of rugby stuff for adults and kids. These include rugby boots (many of which are in the sale), Canterbury thermals, rugby balls, gum shields…

New Fixtures for Micros

We have been asked to bring two Micros teams to the Strathmore tournament on March 9th and the micros have been invited to Carnoustie’s tournament the following Sunday (16th). More details will be issued nearer the time.

Online Rugby Game

There have been a few request from the minis to have some games on the Blog. I have found this one, which is free but quite addictive!

Six Nations

Pull up your armchairs for weeks of excellent rugby! While it is always difficult to have great confidence on how Scotland will fare, this video can reassure the sceptics amongst us that Scotland can play excellent rugby.

Good luck to all of the other teams but we will struggle to keep Lee, Derek and Philippe quiet if they put one over on Scotland!

The blog will have up-to-date news throughout the tournament on the right hand side of the page.

Matches with Strathmore

There has been a slight change of plan and we will be kicking off at 10.30. Can all players please be at the club around 10.00?

We will try to field 2 teams at each age group and Strathmore is bringing the same. There will be two pitches for each age group.

Each team will play 3 matches and each game will be just one session (not two halves). We will play 8 minute matches for the Micros, 12 minutes for the P4/5s and 15 minutes for the P6/7’s. There will be a 5 minute break between matches and rolling subs, if we have any. With this plan, the Micros should be finished around 11.05, the P4/5s 11.15 and the P6/7s 11.25.

Needless to say, we will need a lot of coaches for the day and all parents are encouraged to speak to the coaches if they can help coordinate matches, players etc.

The weather looks as if it will be warm but windy.

Training is on today!

We have decided to go ahead with training this morning. The frost has all melted, the wind seems to have dies down and there hopefully the rain has blown through. Please make sure that everyone is well wrapped up.

See you at 10.00.