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The Head coach is John Scott (Scotty) who is very ably supported by a coaching team of up to 10 ( when they are all there !!). He has been involved with this year group at Reeds for 5 years and has 2 sons playing, Edward in the Under 13’s and William in the Under 11’s. Scotty has attended various courses to gain coaching qualifications and certification including, RFU level 1 coaching certificate, tackle and scrummage safety, child welfare and the RFU rugby ready certificate. He is a fully trained first aider. Scotty, who is a bit of a ‘northern type’ played army rugby to corps standard and played club rugby at Rushmoor and Cranleigh, he got interested in Reeds through the schools grapevine and was hugely impressed on his first visit by the clubs’ friendly atmosphere and focus on the children enjoying their rugby plus Whitely village is such a beautiful setting. He decided there and then to become a keen member of the coaching staff under the then Under 6 Head Coach Adrian Ricks, who had massive experience coaching at mini level and lots of it rubbed off on Scotty, this will be Scotty’s 3rd season as head coach. He relishes the challenge very much and strives hard to get the best out of this players and coaches alike.
We have 46 children in our group and 3 of the coaches are attending the RFU level 1 certification course this year (well done lads) and all the coaches have attended the RFU rugby ready course and various other tackle safety and scrummage courses that are run by the RFU from time to time. We are also very lucky to have a South African International on the coaching staff, who the other coaches tend to listen to when he offers advice !!!! The vast majority of our players have been playing since they were in the u6 group so they are very competitive and eager participants in the sport at this level. Parents like wise are very keen and follow the coaching and especially the festivals very closely indeed and do get involved in the club activities whenever the opportunity presents itself. Most of the squad know each other from the various local schools and from playing summer sports such as cricket, consequently there is a strong team bond amongst the players. The coaches also bond regularly over steak and chips in the Albert Arms in Esher, where the Guiness is excellent.
Our team this year are:
Head coach
John Scott
B squad coach
Howard Seabrook
Coaches
Adrian Ricks
Adrian Dabell
Johann Styger ( specialist forwards coach)
Jonny Evans ( press rep )
Andy Shiells ( Physio )
Mike Phillips
Simon Wallis
James Stubbs (reffing rep)
John Gallagher (reffing)
Simon Hall welcome new addition to the coaching staff.
Squad admin
Richard Hamill
Steve Mather
First aid
Louise Lado-Byrnes
Anyone interested in becoming a member of Reeds is more than welcome to get in touch with the head coach and have a chat or come along to a training session and see how much our lads enjoy their rugby. We have a broad ability spectrum and all levels of experience are equally coached, this season we have players who are commanding a regular A squad place who not so long ago were in the C squad. We reward hard work and dedication and operate a very fair and open selection process.
We have 7 new players this season, they are making new friends and are fitting into the squad very well indeed. The new lads are enjoying their rugby at Reeds, are being played in matches when ever possible and are valuable assets to our squad. Welcome aboard to Tom Hall, the Marshall twins (can’t tell them apart !) Peter Normington, Finn Mather, Hugh Howard and Ally Bruton.
We train every Thursday night and Sundays as per the fixture list, under flood lights before a weekend competition, we have very good pitches that drain well so we are not ‘rained off’ easily. We run a very enthusiastic coaching regime based on fair play, core skills, discipline, close team work and of course having fun and enjoyment for the players, but also paying attention to the fact that youth rugby is only one full season away.
Coming soon.
Bonding and team building is actively encouraged and this is reflected in the fun days and barbeques held at the club and the occasional day out at Harlequins RFC. In the closed season we look forward to the club tag sessions involving parents as well as the children.
There will also be some training sessions for us to help prepare for the forth coming season which decide our position in the Surrey Youth League a Under 13 level. So the pressure to run a ‘tight ship’ remains constant with ever a watch full eye on the opposing clubs and how they are doing, because these children really want to win as well as have fun.
Low season team building will take place during the Tag sessions that the club will be running during the closed season.
Members log-in here
Coming soon.
View Fixture List here.
View League Table here
The Surrey ‘A’ festival at Dorking is the pinnacle of our season, a top drawer occasion and it is an event I really do look forward to. The volcano issue and injuries (not caused by the volcano!!) robbed us of 4 of our regular ‘A’ squad, however we promoted who we could and re-positioned players as we saw fit.
Our first match was against Guildfordians. Our lads were well prepared and ready for a tough game. At this level every game is tough and has the intensity of a final. Our forwards are now approaching the consistency and technique required to compete well at this level, and it showed in our scrummaging and rucking. The forwards were re-cycling and supplying consistent good ball to our ¾ and eventually this paid off when Tom Hamill ran in a try after a good phase of forward play and a nice running move from the backs. Our nerves were further settled when Toby scored a brilliant try after running through 2 tackles. The second half saw Guildfordians trying to counter attack but our tackling was good and we held them off. The match was getting frantic on our try line and the ref blew up for us being off side once too often. Then they awarded a penalty try to Guildfordians … discipline lads!!! The final score of 14-7 was gladly received by us as Guildfordians were coming back at us strongly.
Battersea ironsides had beaten Guildfordians by quite a large margin so they thought that they might have the edge on us in the group decider. They should’ve asked our forwards for an opinion first because as soon as the match started our front 6 took the game to Battersea in no uncertain terms. We rucked and mauled ferociously and gave Battersea a really tough time. Jack Gallagher scored a try midway through the first half, after an epic phase of forwards play. Mike, Toby and Ally were linking really well with the forwards. The tackles were fast and furious and this game developed into a really hard hitting and fast running battle. Our lads ran their socks off and it was because of this we scored our second try. Toby kicked over, Ally ran it down and recovered the ball close to the Battersea try line – just in time to pop it up for Cameron Triffit to run in for a try. Cameron ran the length of the pitch to support his inside centre and reaped the reward of a thoroughly deserved try. I don’t think any player was more surprised than Cameron who had to pinch himself to check he wasn’t dreaming before he put the ball down! That try put the game out of Battersea’s reach and us into the ¼ final, but more importantly into the Surrey one league next season. 14-0 reflected a fair result in a very bruising encounter.
We came up against Cobham in the ¼ final. We have a healthy respect for the ability of the Cobham ‘A’ squad and always have had for the last 7 years. There is a good derby atmosphere between us. I thought it was fitting that we should be playing them in one of our last mini festival games (the last as it turned out). Cobham scored a quick try early in the first half but we took the game straight to them. It was evenly matched with some thundering tackles and good running from both sides. With only one try separating the two teams it was all to play for and both sides were giving 110%.
Cobham scrambled the ball over our try line late into the second half, the ref was unsighted and said ‘ball not grounded’, her arm went out to award scrum ‘5’ Cobham put-in. What happened next was a total and complete travesty and should never have happened. The Cobham coach who had been running the line came onto the pitch, uninvited by the ref, and started saying it was a try. Bearing in mind his opinion hadn’t been asked for in the first place, he should never have been allowed to influence the referee’s decision. At best it was bare face gamesmanship, almost outright cheating. This is typical of the type of coach who wants his team to win at all costs. The fair play ethic we at Reeds try to adhere to is far superior. We’ll rise above it and do better next time.
It put the game out of our reach and after 7 years of mini rugby to be on the receiving end of such behaviour from our local ‘derby side’ right at the end of it all left a nasty taste in my mouth – which will remain for a long time. Cobham won 14-0. It was a very hard fought contest indeed and should not have been marred by such inappropriate officiating.
Ten minutes later we were our happy, smiling and laughing selves again, disappointed? YES! But pleased with our efforts. Your lads need to be very proud of your achievements. You should now look forward to competing in the Surrey One League.
No more festivals, early starts, red tent campers or listening to me give team talks 3 or 4 times in one festival day!! (Hurray I hear you say!).
Sunday was our last Reeds mini match and I didn’t really have much time to reflect on that fact until afterwards. We played Old Leamingtons in a very hard competitive game. The lads were well mixed up ability wise and some were playing out of position. We played confidently and our forwards rucked and mauled very strongly. The ¾ line passed the ball well and before long we were two tries up, which in a normal U12 game would be enough. But, we were playing 15 minutes each way and our players had to dig deep when Leamingtons scored an interception try. We had lots of substitutions at half time and shortly after the restart we scored 2 more tries and Leamingtons returned one of them to finish the scoring at 28-14.
Close season.
We are trying to organise a summer camp of training. I’ll know more after the next youth meeting.
Also visits to 2 local schools are going to be organised by the coaches to drum up recruits for next season.
Once we’ve had a little rest I intend to organise a few evenings of light coaching and fun runouts, next season we are on full pitches with 15 a side so we must do some close season training to prepare for the changes.
Finally !!!!
Players player of the year Ally Wilson.
Coach of the year Howard Seabrook (he’s far too nice)
Most improved player Seth Tait
My personal ‘Champagne moment’ of the whole season was Cameron Triffit scoring that try.
From all the coaching staff a big thank you for 6 seasons of mini rugby.
NUFF SAID (at last !!)
My very best regards to you all
SCOTTY
We were runners up in the KCS A festival and runners up in our own A festival, both of these festivals had very strong entries. We recently beat Chobham A and B squads at home after a very good and very well attended joint coaching session. Moral is high and confidence is growing this season.
