The Mini Rugby season has officially started, and the Comox Valley Kickers Mini Rugby team hosted the Season Opener Jamboree on Sept. 28 in Cumberland.
Clubs from Campbell River, Nanaimo and Cowichan brought their players ages five to 14 to take part. The Comox Valley Rugby Rascals had six kids on the U8 squad take to the field. Novah, Eli, Hunter, Titus, Celine, Jacob and Rowan played amazing games and had tons of fun thanks to their coaches Ona and Dom.
Three of the Kickers U12 kids shook off the summer cobwebs and joined forces with their friends from Campbell River Athletics Association to take on the U12s from Cowichan. Coach Lindsay really was impressed by Jade Froelich's true grit with some hard runs gaining many yards.
Both Aubree Mallette and Jayden Samuels scored for the North Island combined team, really highlighting the years of experience all three of these kids have amassed.
"These kids show you their solid knowledge of the basics and are sure to continue shining in their last year of Mini Rugby," a program spokesperson said. "All the kids look forward to several more jamborees in the months to come."
Rugby is a sport which is known for its tackling and scrums, but we begin much simpler with or younger children. Children aged five to eight play a pared down version of the game that replaces tackles with tags, and eliminates scrums.
Children nine and up learn safe tackle technique and incorporate that into game play along with three-man scrums and three-man lineouts without the lift. The idea is to introduce the game building from basic skills like ball handling and passing to more advanced skills like tackling and defensive and offensive field positions.
The name of the game is, of course, having fun and making friends. Rugby is a sport with a strong culture of respect and sportsmanship, and we begin fostering this as soon as players hit the pitch.
If you are interested in getting your child involved visit http://comoxvalleyrugby.ca or like 'Comox Valley Rugby Rascals' on Facebook. We run practices Thursdays from 5:30-6:30 and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. both at Village Park in Cumberland.
We participate in several jamborees over the next couple of months as far south as Victoria. Our fall season runs until the end of November and we pick up again in the spring, new players are always welcome to come give it a 'try'.
– Comox Valley Kickers Mini Rugby