Festival Review
Well done to all every single one of the kids for their fantastic contributions on the pitch yesterday and to all the parents for your help and support off it. It was heartwarming to see so many children and adults participating in and enjoying grassroots rugby yesterday. The club is nothing without players and their supportive parents and yesterday we showed our friends, rivals and neighbours what an amazing club we have all built at A&C, and the U12 age group in particular.

Our two teams played brilliantly in a very competitive age group competition. I was really impressed with the standard of rugby played by all teams and particularly by both A&C squads. We have a large group of extremely committed players who showed skill, strength, courage and resilience.

Our finishing positions of 3rd in each of the A & B pools was an excellent result against some really strong, well orgainsed and technically proficient teams. I am sure you will all have your own favourite moments but the particular high points for me were:

A team holding Harpenden A (the best team in the festival) to a nil all second half (in which we have the upper hand ) in the final game.
B team showing amazing resilience to come back from 0-2 down to defeat our old friends and rivals Huel Tring 3-2.

The coaching team were all so proud of all the players and we hope you are too. There are some clear take-aways from the hot review held yesterday and we will build on this when we take stock more formally following next week’s festival at Beaconsfield, which will include the video footage of yesterday’s matches.

Middlesex League
We have now had our Middlesex League opponents confirmed and we have a great line-up of teams against which to pit our wits between November and February; Ealing Trailfinders, Teddington, Rosslyn Park, Harpenden and Huel Tring. This is exactly the level of challenge we were hoping for when we entered the competition as playing quality opposition sides will be a great driver for improvement. More information on that competition to follow ASAP.

Beaconsfield Festival – 15 October 2023
Next weekend is Beaconsfield’s festival. Please make sure that you have updated your availability on Pitchero. As I understand it, the festival is mixed ability and we have entered two teams. There will be a selection email sent to parents on Tuesday/Wednesday this week. I do not have any idea of timings, but I will let you have details as soon as possible. Please DM me if you would like to be part of the squad on the day by joining the tent team (who did such a marvelous job yesterday!)

Matt Allen’s Rugby Camp
It is only 2 weeks until the A&C October rugby camp on Monday 23 October to Wednesday 25 October, 09:30 -15:00. Matt Allen will be joined by 3 outstanding coaches, Charlie Swerling, Warwick South and Stevie Lewis.

Charlie is a level 2 qualified RFU coach, head coach of A&C U18s, a Bucks county coach and a current first team player for A&C.
Warwick is a current first team player for A&C, has a degree in sports science and is the strength and conditioning coach for A&C Academy.
Stevie Is a level 2 qualified RFU coach, head coach of A&C U13, coaching development officer for the club as well as looking quite a lot like Santa, only grumpier.

If you have not yet booked your place on the camp and are interested in doing so, please email Matthew Allen.

Club Centenary
I hope that you all received the email about the club’s centenary celebrations. If not, please click here for the article.

Look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday!

Regards,

DC,
U12 AGO
A&C RFC
07929 019133