Minis Training Cancelled

Due to the frosty weather, today's training has been cancelled.

See you all at the Christmas Party later today!

Blairgowrie and Carnoustie at Montrose

Good hands from the micros !

P4/5 against Blairgowrie.

Last Sunday (29.11.9) saw about 150 children from Blairgowrie, Carnoustie and Montrose taking part in rugby at Montrose.

We played teams at all levels from P1 to S2 in what must have been the coldest day of the year so far!

We managed to field two teams at micros, two teams at P4/5 , one team at P6/7 with a combined side made up from all 3 teams also at P6/7.

Well done to everyone for taking part and a huge thank you to the ladies in the clubhouse for keeping us warm.

Training Cancelled Today

Due to the weather, we have decided to cancel Minis training this morning.

Next week is a mini tournament at Union Park with Carnoustie and Blarigowrie. Hopefully, it will have dried up by then...

Montrose Juniors at Murrayfield - The Evidence!

For those that didn't make it, here are some photos and video from the Edinburgh vs Munster match. You will see the Montrose players forming part of the Guard of Honour as Robbie comes out with Scotland Captain Mike Blair and the rest of the Edinburgh team.

Training Cancelled Today

Due to the rain and the forecast for yet more rain, we have taken the decision to cancel rugby training for Micros, P4/5s and P6/7s.

See you all next week at Montrose for matches against Brechin and Arbroath.

Panmure Tournament P4/5 & P6/7

Some of our P4/5s and P6/7s headed down to Broughty Ferry this weekend to take part in the Panmure Minis Tournament. Despite the earlier heavy rain, the conditions were near perfect .

Our P4/5's taking on Brechin.

The P4/5s took on teams from Brechin, Strathmore and the Madrascals from St Andrews. The tackling and running were much improved from their last outing and they only lost one game in a closely contested match against the eventual winners.

The P6/7 side joined up with Brechin to form a North Angus team. Like their younger counterparts, they demonstrated fantastic commitment that resulted in some well-worked tries and a very credible set of results.

During the tournament, a number of Montrose players offered to help out other teams that were light on players. This was really appreciated by the other coaches and showed excellent sportsmanship from the players.

Well done to all who took part.

Montrose "Do" Munster at Murrayfield

The P6/7 and S1/2 players that took part.

On Friday 23rd Oct , 18 players ( P6 to S2) and a few coaches/adults from Montrose Junior Rugby headed for Murrayfield in the rain. The Montrose players trained on the back pitches with Edinburgh players and SRU coaches for 1 hour with other selected clubs from across Scotland.

After a quick change in the bus, into tracksuits and jackets, we headed into the grounds for some well deserved food.

All the players were then ushered onto the main pitch to act as the guard of honour for the Edinburgh v Munster match. The kids stood on either side of the tunnel and watched the players run on for the start of the match.

Robbie MacDonald ( s1) was selected to act as a mascot for the Edinburgh team and got to meet all the players and have his photo taken with them prior to the match then he ran out onto the pitch with Edinburgh Captain , Mike Blair.

A huge thank you to all the adults (and Sam!) that helped look after all the players.
A big thank you goesto all the players for representing Montrose so well.

The kids at the match - Go Edinburgh !

Plans for tomorrow

While the weather is pretty foul, it looks like it is going to clear overnight.

For the P1, 2, 3 & 4s that are training, we will make a decision by 9am Sunday.

The pitches at Panmure will be inspected at 8.30am tomorrow morning and they will let us know whether they are going ahead. For the P4, 5, 6 & 7s that are going to Panmure, we will let you know whether there is a tournament or training in Montrose by 9am Sunday.

We will send out an email with plans as well as putting the details onto this website.

Sharks at Union Park

Today saw a school of sharks come to Montrose - Strathy Sharks from Forfar.

With over 100 children taking part from P1 to P7, it was a fantastic display of rugby from all age groups. Well done to everyone who played for Montrose and it was great to see everyone using what they have been learning in training.

The clubhouse was also buzzing with serviing of teas, coffees, sausage rolls and the now famous Traa fairy cakes.

Training next week, see you there!

Micros in Action

Diving for a tag

Fair play from the Micros

Great offload from P4/5

Strong defensive line from the P4/5s

P6/7 huddle

P6/7s in action

Good start to the Senior Season

Montrose 1st XV made a great start to their 09/10 season with a 19-12 win away to Waid Academy FP. Next week, they will be playing at Atholl in Pitlochry and the first home game of the season will be on Saturday 12th September against Carnoustie with a 15.00 kick-off. Minis and their families are more than welcome to come along and support the Mighty Mo'.

Full details of the 1st XV fixtures can be found here.

Montrose Player meets the National Squad

The Scotland squad held an open training session today in St Andrews. As well as watching the session, spectators were able to meet the Scotland players. Montrose Micro Cameron attended the session and gathered loads of signatures.

Jason White meeting Montrose star Cameron

No gumshield - No play!

Please note that the policy at Montrose Junior Rugby is that all players need to have a gumshield for both training and matches. The gumshield has to be worn for anything involving contact, not just kept in your pocket! While a gumshield may feel strange to start with, it is as important as a pair of boots. As well as protecting your teeth, gumshields can help limit concussion.

You may want to consider a dentist-fitted gumshield. However, if you are still losing teeth and you are growing, a well-fitted 'boil and fit' gumshield may be enough. We have basic ones at the club or you can buy a junior or adult gumshields, such as Shock Doctor, from the sports shop on Murray Street or Argos.

If you want to find out more about gumshileds, please speak to your dentist.

First Aid Refill

Prior to the start of the 09/10 Season, we have been had a generous donation from Montrose Osteopathy. Following on from their generous donation of first aid kits, they have replaced all items used by Minis, S1/2 and U15s.

A big thank you to the Watsons and you can find out more about Montrose Osteopathy here.

If anyone else would like to support Montrose Junior Rugby, either through direct donations or sponsorship, please get in touch.

Montrose has four more Level 1 coaches

Scottish Rugby held their first UKCC Level 1 coaching course in Montrose this weekend. Sixteen coaches attended the three day course, which was led by Doc McKelvey, Scottish Rugby Development Manager, supported by Rugby Development Officers Stewart Ross (Angus) and Paul Hunter (Fife). As well as coaches from Montrose, representatives came from across Scotland and one travelled from Italy to attend!

We are delighted that four of our coaches completed the course: Callum Ruxton, Caroline Campbell, Mike Roulston and Sam Grove-White. Well done to all of them.

Montrose's new Level 1 coaches with Doc, Stewart and Paul

Montrose Players Meet Edinburgh

Four players from Montrose Junior Rugby attended a training camp in St Andrews, organised by Edinburgh Rugby. The purpose of the day was for junior rugby players from Tayside and Fife to pick up new skills.

The Edinburgh players led the coaching and at the end of the session, the Montrose players met the Edinburgh squad, including Scotland stars Mike Blair, Phil Godman and Ross Ford.

The Montrose players with Edinburgh and Scotland stand-off Phil Godman

Development Day

Stewart Ross, Angus Rugby Development Officer, ran a development day for P4 to S2 players at Montrose. We had over twenty players and the weather was far better than the previous week!

Thanks to Stewart for organising the day.

Minis at the Donkey Derby

Montrose Minis were invited to put on a demonstration at this year's Donkey Derby. We put on some drills and then played both tag and full-contact rugby. We also had a stall with the large inflatable rugby posts for people to try their luck at conversions.

A huge thank you to everyone that came along to play and show off their skills on Sunday at the Donkey Derby. You were all fantastic ambassadors for Montrose Junior Rugby.

Unusual training obstacles

Fancy footwork

He's not a Mini

Our retail arm

Micros at Brechin Pageant

Six Montrose players turned up at the Brechin Pageant. We found the Brechin team behind their own stand on the edge of the park and joined them in some warm up games. Brechin slightly outnumbered us and leant us one player.

The two teams entered the arena together with Brechin taking the kick off. Both sides turned out an excellent exhibition match of micros rugby. The game was full of passes with both sides supporting their ball carriers well. Overall it was a flowing running game with good trys scored at each end. The match was well received by the crowd with the teams getting well deserved cheers and applause at the end of a very sporting game.

The P3's then had a exhibition game of contact rugby and finally there was a match by the older Brechin boys, who were also conscripted into a keep fit demo marked by the complete lack of involvement by the coaches.

Thank you to Adam, Ben, Christopher, Iain, James and Tim for representing Montrose so well. Also thanks to Richard for coordinating the day.

Fun in the Sun

Today saw the end of the 08/09 season with a fun day at Union Park. Around 150 players, friends and family enjoyed games, a barbecue and a bouncy castle in bright sunshine.

Stewart Ross, Angus Rugby Development Officer, presented medals and Scotland caps to all players. The P7s were also given a Montrose Rugby hoodie as a 'graduation' present and a thank you for all of their efforts during their time with Minis.

Special prizes were given out for each age group and these were:

Micros (P1,2&3)
Best newcomer: Craig Smillie
Most Improved: Callum Smith
Fair Play: Shona Campbell
Player of the Year: Iain Robertson

P4/5
Best newcomer: Keiran Hogan
Most Improved: Matthew McKenzie
Fair Play: Keiran Gammie
Player of the Year: Angus Campbell

P6/7
Best newcomer: Cameron Lewis
Most Improved: Tom Magalon
Fair Play: Robbie MacDonald
Player of the Year (joint): Kyle Clark and Ewan Campbell

Particular thanks were given to Ben (Barbecue Chef), RK Services (Bouncy Castle) and all of the parents (coaching, helping out, raffle prizes, cake and candy etc.).


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Scotland Fiji - Saturday 14th November

After the success of the bus trip to the Scotland vs. Canada match last year we are going to take a bus to the Scotland vs. Fiji match at Murrayfield on Sat 14th Nov. As well as players, family and friends are very welcome.

All players MUST be accompanied by an adult. More details will come out once we have a price for tickets and rough numbers for the bus. If you are interested can you please email us?

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UKCC Level 1 Rugby Coaching Course

A level 1 course is being held in Montrose Sports centre on Friday 7th August 09 (6.30 to 9.30pm), Saturday 8th August 09(9am to 5pm), Sunday 9th August 09 (9am to 5pm).

This course is open to anybody who has already done the foundation course and eveyone MUST have completed the IRB Rugby Ready test.

Anybody already coaching for Montrose (either minis, juniors or seniors) will get the course paid for by the club. For more information and to book a place please check the SRU website on the link: http://www.scottishrugby.org/community/content/view/1067/116/

Places are limited so hurry and book a place.


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First Aid Course. 21 June 2009

We have managed to re-organise the Rugby first aid course for Sunday 21 June 2009, all day (10.00 to 4pm.) at Montrose sports centre.

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 .

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 montroseminis@tiscali.co.uk or phone: 01674 830763.


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Matches against Brechin and Arbroath

Today saw the last fixtures of the 09/10 season against Brechin and Arbroath. Arbroath have only just started this season and it was great to see so many new players at different age groups.

P1&2 Micros

P3

P4/5

P6/7

SRU Youth Coaching Courses in Montrose.

This will take place at Montrose Sport Centre on Sunday the 7th and 14th of June 0945 – 1600 both days.

The course is to target young people 15-20 who are interested in getting involved or may already be helping younger teams at school or club level. The course will provide the candidates with a clearer idea of what is expected from a coach and, how they should present themselves, health and safety issues they need to be aware of and also give them a greater knowledge of specific area’s of the game – scrums, tackling and tackle area etc!

The course is free of charge however there will be a £10 deposit which the candidates will get back after the completion of the course!

For an application form or more details please contact Stewart Ross (Angus rugby developement Officer ) on 01307 474245 (mobile:07824694473 ) or email : RossS@angus.gov.uk.

If you know of anyone who might be interested, ask them to contact Stewart.

Fun Day and Prize Giving - 24th May 2009

The fun day this year will be on the 24th May at Union Park from 11am to 1pm. This will mark the end of the 2008/2009 season and is open to all players, coaches, friends and family.
The cost will be £3.00 per person. There will be a BBQ , cake and candy, raffle , Bouncy castle( for micros only!) and other games. Please bring your own picnic and drinks to suppliment the BBQ.

Any donations for the raffle, cake and candy and offers of help gratefully received. See Caroline for more details.

Wanted - Graphic Designer

Is anyone (or does anyone know of) a graphic designer?

Our logo, based on the mermaid, is on our training kit etc. Both of the companies that have done embroidery for us don’t have the original artwork. This is presenting us with a problem and we need to redevelop the current logo into an appropriate format. If anyone knows an EPS from a PDF, can they get in touch?

It was thought that the mermaid has a historical link to Montrose and we had hoped to tell you more about that. Our usual source (Google) let me down and it only mentioned the Little Mermaid chip shop! Perhaps it is a racy lady with a tennis racket after all!

Strathmore Tournament

Montrose Mini's P4/5 and P6/7 squads travelled to Forfar to take part in the Strathmore’s annual tournament. Dry and sunny weather meant that playing conditions were ideal for running rugby. With ten teams in each age group, Montrose were placed in the top half of the draw and played matches against Strathmore Sharks, Dundee Eagles, Carnoustie and Blairgowrie Rams.

P4/5s against Dundee Eagles

Despite the Easter holidays, the P4/5 squad was strong with twelve players. Right from their first match against the hosts, they played strong, aggressive rugby to the delight of the coaching team.

P6/7 Breaking through against Carnoustie

The P6/7s really started to use the skills they have learned in training and put on a dazzling display of open, running rugby.

Montrose Coach Andy Hogan stated “Every player showed remarkable commitment in every match. The quality of the tries was of the highest order. Both squads have improved significantly throughout the season and are now playing as a cohesive team. They should all should be very proud of their performance today.”

P4/5 Squad

P6/7 Squad

There will be training for the next couple of weeks then matches against Arbroath and brechin at union Park on Sunday May 10th.

Development Days

Montrose Junior Rugby held their Easter development days for boys and girls from P4 to S2 at Union Park for our . Led by Stewart Ross, Angus Rugby Development Officer, over 40 children learned new skills and played games. He was supported by coaches from Montrose and Brechin Rugby Clubs.

Over the two days there were sessions on passing, tackling, running and kicking. Each of the age groups also played a lot of games to hone their skills.

Richard Neville, Montrose coach commented "It was great to see so many children at the development days. Whilst some regular players attended, we had many new faces. The newcomers showed real talent and we hope to see them all at training on Sunday mornings."

At the end of the second day, every player was presented with a mini rugby ball from the SRU.

Rugby balls from heaven?

Blairgowrie Tournament

Montrose Mini Rugby took players from P1 to P7 to Blairgowrie Rams’ Annual tournament this weekend. This was Montrose’s first trip to Blairgowrie and the other teams in the tournament were Strathmore Sharks and Kinross Cougars.

Goose on the loose!

With soft ground and warm sunny weather, these were the best conditions Montrose had seen all season. Micros, P4/5 and P6/7 all played fantastic running rugby with good passing and powerful defence. As the end of the season approaches, the Montrose coaches gave some children the opportunity to play up an age group. This allowed players to get a feel for the rules they will be playing next season. All players did remarkably well and demonstrated great potential for another successful season next year.

P4/5s taking a breather

A presentation was made by the Blairgowrie Rams coaches at the end of the tournament and all players received a medal for their efforts. Players of the day were Craig Smillie for Micros, Andrew Neill for P4/5 and Kieran Gammie for P6/7.

Rugby Boot Swap

We have decided to start a "BOOT SWAP". If anyone has rugby boots that they have out grown then they can hand them into the club and swap them for another pair ( if we have your new size.) The swap will cost £2.00

At present , we have two pairs of boots a size 3 and a size 4.

Please hand any boots either surplus or to swap to Caroline.

Tesco Vouchers

We have registered with Tesco’s voucher scheme. As well as schools, amateur sports clubs can collect vouchers.

If you aren’t already collecting for someone else, it would be great if you along with all of your friends and relatives could collect vouchers for Montrose Rugby. With the vouchers, we will be able to buy sports equipment to support training at all age groups.

We expect to have a collecting box at the club in a few weeks.

Rugby Club AGM

The AGM will be held on Tue 28th April in the clubhouse. This is open to all members.
More details to follow.

Easter Rugby Camp In Dundee (15 to 17th April)

Easter Rugby Camp in Dundee.
The SRU are running an easter rugby camp in Dundee for kids aged from P5 to U16.( all standards welcome). This is being held at Dundee University grounds and runs from 9am to 1pm each day.
If anyone is interested please contact Graham Kilgour on 07545 298615 or look at www.scottishrugby.org.

Easter Rugby Camp In Montrose (9.4.09 and 10.4.09)

Easter Rugby Camp in Montrose.
We are hosting two rugby development days for P4/5 and P6/7 during the Easter holidays. (New players are always welcome so bring your friends along.)
They will be run on Thur 9th April and Friday 10th April from 1pm to 4pm each day at Union park. The cost will be £1.00 per session per player.
The sessions will be run by Stewart Ross (Angus rugby development officer) with help from our own coaches.
If you are interested can you please let either Caroline know on 01674 830763 or Stewart know on 07824694473 (email: RossS@angus.gov.uk)

P4/5 and P6/7 Matches in Pitlochry Cancelled

We have just received an email to say that Atholl are struggling with numbers so the P4/5s and P6/7s will not be heading to Pitlochry next weekend.

Next Sunday (22nd) will be training for everyone at Union Park, starting at 10.00.

See you there!

Chilly but successful mudbath in Forfar

Excellent running from Montrose in trying conditions

Today saw Montrose's Mighty Micros (P1/2/3) head down to Strathmore's Annual Micros Tournament. Fielding two teams, Montrose Green and Montrose Blue, they took on teams from Carnoustie, Panmure, Mackie, Blairgowrie, Dundee Eagles and Strathmore.

Despite a cold wind off the hills and very wet ground underfoot, both Montrose teams played fantastic rugby, scoring tries in every match. The passing, shouting for the ball, dodging and support were all excellent.

We are looking forward their next outing to Carnoustie next weekend.

Montrose scoring against Harlequins - Go girl!

Minis Festival

Montrose Mini Rugby invited teams from Atholl, Blairgowrie and Strathmore rugby clubs come to Union Park for a rugby festival today with over 150 minis at Union Park. Playing rugby on soft ground on a sunny day provided excellent playing conditions and the rugby at all age groups was of a very high quality.

Atholl Minis from Pitlochry had come to Montrose for the first time and had very committed players at P4/5 and P6/7. The Blairgowrie Rams had one team for each of the age groups and Strathmore fielded 5 teams.

There were fifty two players representing Montrose and the coaches voted the ‘players of the day’ as Callum Smith for Micros, Matthew McKenzie for P4/5 and Duncan Ruxton for P6/7.

Montrose Red and Blue Micros

P4/5 against Blairgowrie

P6/7 against Blarigowrie

More Coaches for Montrose

Our new coaches (Callum Ruxton missing)

Today saw 13 coaches from Montrose Junior Rugby taking part in an Scottish Rugby Combined Foundation Course in the Saltire Sports Centre in Arbroath. This course has been developed to give new coaches an introduction to teaching and refereeing rugby for children of primary school age. The focus is on having fun and ensuring that children are safe and the day was led by Stewart Ross, Angus Rugby Development Officer and Bob Easton, Scottish Rugby Referee Development Manager.

This adds to our already strong coaching team and will help us to further develop the minis and the older age groups in the club. Thanks to everyone for taking part.

Our new front row?

Matches cancelled but training at Montrose Sports Centre

Union Park is still covered in snow. While it is starting to thaw, the forecast is for it to freeze tonight and to be cold tomorrow. We have taken the decision to cancel the matches against Panmure – sorry.

However, rather than do nothing, we will be training at Montrose Sports Centre from 10.00 to 11.00. Everyone is welcome to come along. Please bring indoor trainers (studs probably aren’t a good idea!).

See you all at Montrose Sports Centre just before 10.00. The Sports Centre is beside Montrose Academy and you can find a map here.

Training is on today!

While it is really cold, it is dry and the sun is coming out. There will be coaches to take training today but we will tailor the session to make sure everyone keeps warm and there won’t be any tackling!

If you are coming along, please wrap up warm and bring gloves, hats and anything else to keep the winter weather out.

Please don't wear 'blades'

Montrose Junior Rugby would ask that our players don't wear boots with 'blade' studs when playing rugby. Whilst they may provide additional grip in some conditions, we have become aware of a number of injuries caused by this type of boot.

From the IRB/SRU viewpoint, there is no ban on the use of blades, but boots have to be 'safe' in the referee’s opinion. However, we would rather not take the risk and ask that you don’t wear them for training or matches.

Normal rugby or football boots with aluminium rugby studs are ideal. There are studs available for sale from the club.

Training Kit Found

A Montrose training tracksuit , top and bottoms has been handed in . It is not named but looks new. If anyone has lost theirs please see Caroline or drop us an email . Thanks.

Training Cancelled - 25th Jan

Sorry but due to the horizontal rain, cold temperature and the strong winds, we have decided to cancel training today.

Next week is matches in Brechin (subject to the weather). You can get directions here. Please meet at Union Park at 10.00 or Brechin at 10.30 for an 11.00 kick off. We should be done by 12.00 and Brechin will provide a post match snack for all players. If anyone can’t make it, please let me know by phoning or send an email.

P7's join S1/2 trainig

In preparation for next season our P7's are now joining our S1/2 training on a tuesday night(18.00 to 19.30) at union park for some extra coaching.
The boys had their first session this week and said it was great fun but cold ! A huge thank you to Lee for coaching them and giving up his tuesday evenings.

Training Kit Has Arrived!

The training kit that was ordered before Christmas has arrived. We will bring it along to training on Sunday unless anyone wants to pick it up before then? If you do can you please phone Caroline on 01674830763.
There are some extra pieces if anyone who hadnt ordered it wants to buy some training kit.

Rugby Foundation Coaching / Referee Course

The next foundation course is on Sunday 22nd Feb in Arbroath(9.45 to 4.30).
This is open to all mums, dads, players (over16) and helpers. You do not need to have any previous knowledge of rugby and you wont be committing to coaching every weekend if you do the course!
Please get in touch if you would like an application form or contact Stewart Ross ( Angus Rugby Development Officer) on RossS@angus.gov.uk for futher information.

FIRST AID COURSE CANCELLED

Unfortunately we have had to cancel the first aid course for Sat 10th Jan due to Angie awaiting a knee op. We will let you know as soon as we have an alternative date.