My name is Tony Swain and I have the honour to have been asked to chair the Mini and Junior Section committee. For those who don’t know me I have been a member at the club for over 25 years and played regularly when I was a tad younger. I am proud to take this position and do my bit for a very successful and important section of the club. If anyone wishes to discuss any aspect of the section with me please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

The season starts on Sunday 1st September, the first two Sundays will be training days with games beginning on the 3rd weekend (14th / 15th).

Registration of all players has to take place every season and we will have all registration forms available for those first 3 Sundays. Please can I ask that all parents accompany the players on 1 of the Sundays to ensure the registration process goes as smoothly as possible. Any player who hasn’t been registered by the end of September will not be eligible to play or train, this is a constraint forced on us by the RFU.

The Mini and Junior section is extremely successful and this is testament to the hard work of numerous volunteers who give up an endless amount of time to be coaches and team managers.

Running such a successful section however can’t be done simply with the work of volunteers. We need funds to ensure we can provide a safe, exciting and progressive team environment for your children to thrive in. This includes providing a vast array of equipment, food after games, coaching courses and training facilities to name just a few.

We have had long discussions about how we can continue to run the section as successfully as we have over the last few years. Unfortunately out of these discussions has come a decision to increase player subscriptions for the upcoming year. The basic subscription hasn’t increased for at least 5 years from £40. The new prices for the year are £50 for 1 child, £90 for 2 & £120 for 3 from the same family. We have done research and know we are still among the lowest if not the lowest in the area. Can you please have the subscription fees available when registering your child.

I would also like to ask if you know anyone, either a person or business who might be interested in sponsoring the section. We have various packages available depending on the amount someone might be able to provide. If you do know anyone please could you ask them to contact myself or Paul Kilshaw to discuss this further.

My final request is for anyone who can volunteer some time on Sundays to assist running the section. We need more people to take on coaching roles and we also need more people to take first aid courses so we have adequate cover at all games.

If you can help out in anyway please either contact myself on 07866 563707 or swainypops@gmail.com or Paul on 07733 315599 or paulkilshaw@gmail.com , or the coach of your particular team.

Finally – the first fund raising event is the Start of Season BBQ in the Club on Saturday 14th September from 6pm onwards – everyone invited!

I hope you continue to support the section and enjoy the environment we all create by working together.

Many thanks

Tony Swain
Chair of Mini and Junior Section Rossendale RUFC