Under 14s Season Review 2019/20

Under 14s Season Review 2019/20

 

In reviewing the Season 2019-20 we as coaches have to be very pleased with what was achieved by this group of players. The only disappointment had to be the amount of rugby lost post Xmas due to wet weather and the fact that we could not take our Cup run to a conclusion due to the Coronavirus and lockdown.

Hopefully, like us the other age groups appreciated the appointment of Andy Douthwaite to put in place and oversee a Junior Development Pathway. From our point of view this is a massive step forward, as it emphasises that the development of young players must be seen as a long term project underpinned by high standards, where success is judged by performance and not just by how many games you win. On that basis we would like to thank the Club for finding the funds to make this possible and Andy Douthwaite for his effort and feedback through the season.

Our season started in the knowledge that 8 players who were in the squad last year would not be returning. Where it is sad to lose players we have to accept that as the game gets more physical some are going to drop by the wayside. The bonus was that we gained 5 new players and one returned after a season away. All of these have had a massive effect on our group, with 5 of the 6 being selected in our Cup Semi Final squad of 22.

During pre-season Beamo drew up a list of the players and divided them into 3 categories dependent on their abilities. Not surprisingly this generally centred around an individual’s confidence in contact.  Armed with this list we were able to focus on developing the weaker players through upskilling in training and giving them simple goals to achieve in games. We found that this approach built much needed confidence and contributed to the performance of the whole squad exponentially, to the point where on March 15th we played Droitwich’s best team (their “B” team were at Bromyard) and despite the fact that we had 6 of our strongest players unavailable we only lost by 6 tries to 4.

Another key area of development was focussed on the Scrum and Lineout. Obviously, the fact that Beamo has so much knowledge in these areas having not long retired from coaching the 1stXV in the National leagues is a massive advantage, but for young players to have regular access to that level of coaching and enthusiasm of delivery is absolute gold dust. The resultant “Go forward” we enjoyed in both attack and defence from all aspects of set piece, gave us the foundation upon which we have developed a physicality and confidence across the pitch, which we lacked at the end of last season.

While Beamo was working on the set piece, the backs worked on creating space and identifying how to use it once created. This was made easier by the ballwork Stew has done with them through the age groups. If you can’t catch and pass off both hands then there is little point on working on moves as most will finish on the ground. Challenging young players and giving them the confidence to try moves the 1st team do has worked well for us. Where earlier in the season there was confusion as players ran the wrong lines, we stuck to the plan, kept practising and they were rewarded with some excellent multi phase team tries.

As coaches who have all worked with the 1stXV at League level where winning is more important than performance, it has been great to coach a team from 6 yrs old where we can focus on their development and challenge them in advance with things that you would normally leave to later years that the RFU might frown on. For instance, the RFU have embraced the small sided /conditioned games mantra. That’s all well and good but in the real game a waste of time if your scrum wins no ball and you have a higgledy piggedly defence that leaks like a sieve. This is where the clubs Development programme is great, as it sets out a framework for game related learning.

On that basis we have also challenged the players to take ownership of their performance. We had planned to identify a Senior player group of about 5 and develop them with the help of a specialist in leadership. Unfortunately, this did not get off the ground as the virus hit but we have at least laid the foundations. The key one has been that as coaches we give them the tools and then step back and let the players get on with it. Beamo sent them conditioning exercises last year and it is obvious who is doing them and who isn’t. This year they organised their own warm ups at training and for matches with the result that we never started a game slowly. Only once did the opposition score first. The fact is that the players shouldn’t have to rely on the coaches to motivate them, as the coaches aren’t on the field when the team might need them most. Our job is to let them experience success and, most importantly failure and then give them the tools to problem solve and develop tactics to combat the many different situations they will meet on their rugby journey.

In summary we have had an excellent season and we count ourselves as very lucky to be working with this group of players. In addition we are very lucky with the group of parents that we have. Many thanks to them for all the taxiing they do and the support they show the coaches. Special thanks to Andy Griffiths in his role as Asst. Manager and Simon Collings and his committee for the work they are doing to send us on tour to South Africa in 2022. To Clare Blagborough, Wenda Chandler and Alex Dales for their roles as First Aiders. We the coaches appreciate that the players probably benefit much more from the female, sympathetic touch, rather than the “Drag him off!”or “Stop blubbing!” approach that we might offer.

Finally, a big thanks to the players who have risen to every challenge we have set them.

 

Key points of the season

• Reaching a home Cup Semi final with strong performances leading to it.

• Our starting team always got into the game quickly. Many Junior sides start slowly.

• We have a strong squad where the weaker players have respect from the better ones.

• We have a good turnout at training which means they are enjoying it.

• We have 15 players involved in the DPP

 

 Negatives

• We had more players than usual who suffered longer term injury

• 1 broken wrist out for 3 months

• 1  Green Stick Fracture to Humerus 4 weeks

• 1 concussion out for 4 months as 3rd time in a year.

• 1 broken collar bone 3 months

• 1 broken finger out for 3 weeks

• We were unable to instigate the Senior leadership Group programme.

• The persistent rain and then Lockdown which killed the second half of the season.

 

Stewart Jardine

Stuart Bemand

Simon ‘Norm’ Green-Price

 

 

 

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