Edition 3 Your monthly newsletter from the PRDT. March/2014

THE EAGLE

The Golden Oldies

Senior results

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High Flying Eagles! secondary schools.

who coach in the local primary and )Centre( and Declan O'Brien )centreright of (, Jess Martin )left of centre(community coaches Beth Doran

and three Modern apprentice )far left( and Rory McKay )far right(Wade cers James fficonsists of five members, we have two rugby development o

proving specialist coaching in schools and the rugby club. The team Rugby to a wider audience and develop the rugby players of the future by We are your local rugby development team who are trying to promote Who are we? The start of April doesn’t only mean

the start of spring, it’s time for the mature player, coaches and parents of Perthshire RFC to get the boots dusted down, the old school kit out of the cupboard and get training.

The Golden Eagles, formally known as the Zimmer’s, have been around for a number years. There has been multi coloured strips, a lot of success in events but most of all a lot of fun. I think as we embark on our first training session for Perth Beer Festival 7’s and Golden Oldie tournament there are only Alec Watson, Jimmy White and Rod McRae left appearing that may have played for this merry band, in the past.

It’s all about fun that really is our Motto. If you haven’t played since you were 12 or you don’t want to take contact, you decide. Your shorts will dictate this for you. Different colours are a guide to the level you want to play at.

Training starts Monday 7th on the North Inch. It’s not compulsory but you will miss out on a lot of fun.

Campbell Watson

Club Coach Coordinator

This month we have a particularly special congratulations to give out. Perthshire DO James Wade has moved in to a new job at Murrayfield after two and a half years at the head of the Development Team. He will be missed by all at the club as he moves up in the SRU to work as a Coach Development Officer, in charge of over 100 clubs in the East of Scotland. From everyone left in PRDT, Good luck in the new job James!

Other High Flying Eagles this month include: Lachlan Menzies for his hard work and great play in the Caledonia

National selection matches. MA Jess Martin for winning Player of the Match in the Brewin

Dolphin U18 Girls Bowl Final MA Delcan O’Brien for gaining a place in the Irish Exiles 48 man

squad to train in Buckingham this April .

1st XV: Perthshire RFC 30 - 36 Caithness RFCPerthshire RFC 45 - 12 University of St Andrews RFC

2nd XV:Perthshire RFC 39 - 8 Arbroath RFCPerthshire RFC 7 - 50 Dundee University Medics RFC

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After having the pleasure of being the Development Officer for Perthshire RFC for 2.5 years, this week I moved onto pastures new to become Coach Development Officer (East) at the SRU. Perthshire has been a fantastic place to work, with a great committee, great volunteers and talented players who are all moving in the right direction. This is cemented by the Development Team, which has established itself at the heart of the community in Perth due to the hard work put in by the various Assistant Development Officers and Modern Apprentices over the past years, and none more so than the current team in Rory, Jess, Beth and Declan. The work that the team has carried out in schools has been invaluable, with established programmes in Perth Academy, Perth High and St. Johns Academy not to mention the work with Glenalmond and the vast Primary School Programme. This work has contributed 51 new players to the Perthshire RFC ranks this season at P5-U16 level. With Rory as the new Development Officer, the programme will continue to go from strength to strength.

I just want to say a huge thanks to all of the coaches and volunteers who have given up their time over the past few years to attend CPD workshops, UKCC courses, Rugby Ready’s etc and to generally listen me go on and on about rugby! It’s commitment like this that will provide our players with a great environment to learn rugby in which will see Perthshire RFC thrive on and off the pitch.

This links nicely to my new role, which fundamentally is to provide as many quality workshops, courses and resources for coaches to engage with. I will no doubt see a lot of you on my coaching travels (I expect Perthshire to be a beacon of high attendance in Coach Education!)

All the best in your rugby pursuits and it has been a real pleasure getting to work with you all. James’

A Farewell message form James Wade

The Mini s ection 10.30am every Sunday sees the North Inch in Perth come alive with Perthshire RFC Mini's Section Rugby. Currently with 153 members, 25 coaches and over 20 fixtures this season, the Mini's Section has developed massively over the last few years. As a section we aim to offer fun and challenging Rugby in a safe and friendly environment. This goal will never change and with the level of commitment we currently see from our Club, the players, parents and coaches, we are happy that we achieve this goal week on week.

As Section Head the focus for me is not only keeping continuity and consistency across the section in the training and support we provide, but also to ensure that we have the resources to maximise our investment in all of our young players.

On top of the weekly training sessions, fixtures and tournaments, we also regularly organise events and outings across all age groups. Within the last 12 months we have had outings to see Scotland in the Autumn Tests and Six Nations at Murrayfield. Edinburgh Rugby have provided private coaching sessions, half time match opportunities and have hosted our P4's carrying out Guard of Honour duties. We have also had the privilege of seeing one Perthshire Mini player a Season walking out onto the pitch at Murrayfield as one of the official National Team mascots. Inclusion in Club events throughout the year, an annual PGL outward bounds weekend and holiday training camps are also now amongst the regular calendar entries. Our season culminates in our Perthshire Mini's Festival in May, where we play host to over 600 young players from all over Scotland, an event that is growing in size and popularity year on year.

The Section welcomes all youngsters over the age of 5, from Primary 1 through to Primary 7, of all abilities and experience. The Mini's Coaching team look forward to seeing new and existing members over the coming months.

Chris Ninham

PRFC Mini's Section Head