Dear Player/Parent welcome to New Milton & District RFC
The purpose of this letter is to provide introductory information to new players, parents and volunteers about the club and provide guidance in terms of how we operate.
Firstly, we hope you enjoy many happy years of involvement with NMRFC. The whole club is run entirely on a volunteer basis. Help is always needed, will often be requested and if you would ever like to become more formally involved please don’t hesitate to ask. Your support is critical to the success of the club as a whole.
The club aims to ensure that players, coaches, parents, spectators and volunteers uphold the core values of rugby union: Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship.
Player registration
New players are welcome to attend three taster sessions before joining formally. Thereafter, registration must be completed and subscriptions paid for all players. There are three documents to be completed/signed and these are attached for you to print off:
Medical form: / Registration form: / Photo permission:Please return the completed forms to your age group’s Manager with a cheque for your subscription made payable to ‘New Milton RFC’ (preferable to cash). Card payments can also be made. For more information on who the Managers and Coaches are, please see our website and click on the relevant age group for contact details: http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/newmiltondistrict.
For this season’s subscription prices please see:
Safeguarding
New Milton RFC takes great care in its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of all children and vulnerable adults involved at the club. Full details of all the club’s policies, including our Welfare Policy and other key documents can be found at:
http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/newmiltondistrict/a/welfare-of-young-people-24774.html
Coaching and training
The Club supports and develops willing volunteers who wish to coach. Each age group will have a number of coaches that hold relevant RFU qualifications, coaching licenses and all the club’s coaches and managers who have any involvement with coaching children are DBS (CRB) checked every three years. Each age group will also have at least one trained first aider.
Our coaching objectives are to ensure all players have fun, that their skills develop over the course of the season and that they can compete in a suitable environment which rewards all achievements. Training sessions will be split into different sections, primarily through a wide variety of different games. Training will be conducted in mixed ability/experience groups and sometimes with the players selected into appropriate training squads. As a rule, all players will be trained in the same core skills and techniques and increasingly in specialist skills in the older age groups.
Ultimately we want all the players to have great fun in a safe environment, enjoy their rugby and develop themselves, their friendships and achievements through playing this great team sport.
Competitions and selection
The club’s aim is to ensure player development and retention. Within the Junior section the fixtures are a mix of friendlies and a Hampshire RFU Cup competition. Each age group arranges its friendly fixtures so that the level matches the range of abilities within the squad, the aim being that the matches provide an opportunity for players to develop their playing skills and tactics. For many fixtures, every registered player will be able to play; however there are a few occasions when a squad needs to be selected.
As coaches we will work together to select the most appropriate squad for each type of event and use the following selection criteria:
1. Ability – constantly changing, never a straight line progression.
2. attitude – (with a small ‘a’) 100% effort can achieve great things.
3. Attendance – is an important factor, but will not always override ability.
No player has a given right to remain in any of the squads. As parents, we predict that some of the coaches decisions you’ll love and some you’ll think they’ve got plain wrong! You can however rest assured that careful consideration goes into every selection. Ensuring the correct balance between competitive participation, player development and fairness is paramount.
Matches and Codes of Conduct
During matches, substitutes will be used:
· If they are more focused than a player on the pitch
· When the team is significantly ahead or behind in a match
· For tactical reasons where necessary
· In case of injury to a player, they may then be substituted back on. Any injured player will be removed from the game immediately as a precaution (when they can be moved) and brought back on at the next appropriate occasion if it is deemed that they are fit to carry on playing.
All children and their parents are encouraged to support all our teams, especially as players may be playing alongside each other the following week. Ultimately the behaviour and success or otherwise of our teams and you as parents on the touchline, represents us all and our proud reputation as a friendly club. We would encourage you to teach and lead your children by example with pitch discipline and encourage them to be humble in victory and gracious in defeat. We strongly encourage all participants to read our Codes of Conduct for Parents, Players, Coaches and Volunteers at:
http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/newmiltondistrict/a/codes-of-conduct-20878.html
Your role
For Youth teams we would prefer that players are accompanied by a responsible adult as injuries do happen. An alternative is that an adult is nominated to act as responsible adult for that session.
For obvious safety reasons, all players must wear gum shields during contact training sessions. Boots should have no sharp areas and metal tipped plastic studs are not allowed. Kit is available to purchase in the Club Shop, which is open on Sunday morning’s and via the website.
To keep in touch with all the latest fixtures and results please join the club website as a parent or player. http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/newmiltondistrict/ By joining you will receive a weekly email update, with details of fixtures and you can also post photos etc. For non-IT types, there are fixture booklets available in the clubhouse, although please be aware that these can become out of date over the course of the season. If the weather is very bad and rugby is cancelled, Managers will endeavour to send out an email or text, as far in advance as feasibly possible, however please also check the club website. For matches team selections will typically be advised by email and confirmation of attendance required.
If you have any queries or concerns over the course of the season, please do speak with any of your coaching team or managers in the first instance or alternatively a member of the Committee.
Thank you for reading and welcome to NMRFC.
NMRFC
2