Welcome to Deeside Rugby Football Club (DRFC) and the Deeside Minis group, which welcomes all players (boys and girls) from the Primary 4 to Primary 7 age groups. We train most Saturdays 9.30 am - 11.00 am, at Woodend Playing Fields, Banchory, AB31 5QA (opposite Tesco). The aim of Mini Rugby is to start developing a lifelong love of sport, through rugby. We encourage children to learn the basic skills of the game in a positive learning environment.

TRAINING
After a long hot summer, training re-starts for the Minis on Saturday, 25 August 2018 at 9.30am. Generally, we align with the school term, with breaks at October, Christmas and Easter, but other than that, it’s most Saturday mornings until the end of May, plus the occasional tournament on a Sunday. In winter, bad conditions or frozen pitches may mean we have to cancel training. Please keep an eye on e-mail or Twitter for last minute updates. See below for more details.

KIT
If you have a child trying rugby for the first time, there’s no need to splurge on a full set of kit initially - decent trainers and comfortable sports clothing is acceptable to start and remember to bring a water bottle with you. As time goes on, we would recommend studded boots, and Deeside rugby shirts/socks/training tops. These are available for purchase most Saturday mornings from the kit shed (ask at the tea shack). In the kit shed, there is also a box of second-hand rugby boots in all sizes. Please feel free to help yourself to a pair that fits your child - it operates on a system of one pair out, one pair in. If you don't have a pair to put in, we simply ask that you make a donation at the tea shack instead. The only piece of kit that is essential is a gum shield – these are fairly inexpensive and can be purchased from most sports shops, or online.

COACHES
P5 coaches this year are Gareth, Pete and Ken, all of whom have coached for a number of years. All Deeside RFC coaches are PVG registered and have completed Scottish Rugby Union ‘Rugby Right’ coaching course at the start of each season. Many are trained to UKCC level 1, with some up to UKCC level 3. For details of the other coaches in each of the respective Mini groups, please see the individual team pages on the website. All coaches have basic training in child welfare. We work hard to keep all the children safe, but First Aiders are on hand, should the need arise. The club also has a dedicated Child Protection Officer.

REGISTRATION
If you’re new to the club, feel free to come along for a few weeks and give it a try. If you do decide to carry on with rugby, parents and their player(s) need to register with the club. See the 'Join this club' button at the top right corner of our website: www.pitchero.com/clubs/deesiderfc. Fees for 2018/19 season are unchanged from last year, at £85 for the year for the Mini age groups. This fee goes towards running the club facilities, including rental of the playing fields, and appropriate insurance for all players. Payments can be made through the '2018/19 Subscriptions' link on the site after you have registered. See Membership Fes category 'Minis (P4 - P7) Membership 2018/19'.

Parents also need to register their players via SCRUMS, Scottish Rugby’s online system. Information on how to register with SCRUMS and the link can be found on the home page of our club website. All players (aged 8 and over) and club officials are required to register with SCRUMS.

CONTACT DETAILS
Gareth can be contacted on:
- Gareth.DeesideRFC@gmail.com

We try to avoid last-minute changes to training. However, sometimes this is unavoidable so we ask all parents to register an up-to-date email address on the membership site. If you’re on Twitter, you can also follow:
- @DeesideMinis

Even if you’re not on Twitter, it’s worth checking the website/Facebook page on Saturday mornings, just in case we have to change or cancel for any reason. If the session has been cancelled, there will be a posting on these club site(s).

COME ALONG AND GIVE IT A TRY
If you have a child who is new to rugby, come along to the Saturday morning training sessions and give it a try - everyone welcome! For those Minis who are returning after the summer break, or to those new minis levelling up from the Micros (P1 - P3 groups), we look forward to seeing you all again for this new 2018/19 season.

22 August 2018