New Youth Coaches for 2010 / 2011 Season.

Stuart Ross, Angus Rugby Development Officer with the newly qualified Youth Rugby Coaches - Daniel Waghorn, Nathaniel Sieunairine, Findlay Christie, Jasper Rodgers and Stewart Ruxton.

Five Montrose junior rugby players have recently completed the Scottish Rugby Youth Coaching Course. The course was led by Stewart Ross, Angus Rugby Development Officer and was achieved over six sessions. During the sessions they took part in theory and practical coaching lessons then concluded with successfully completing the Scottish Rugby Foundation Coaching and Refereeing award.

Caroline Campbell, Montrose Rugby Coach Coordinator said “We are delighted to see their enthusiasm and commitment that has led to them achieving this qualification. The course has given our new coaches the skills and confidence to lead and deliver rugby sessions at school and at the club.”

The new coaches will be helping out at junior training sessions for children in P4 to S3 on Tuesday 6th and Wednesday 7th July. These will run from 9.30 to 12.00 at Union Park and will cost £3 per day. Newcomers and experienced players are very welcome. Anyone interested in attending these sessions should contact Caroline on 01674 830763.

U15 / North Angus: Feedback Wanted - 09/10 Questionaire

As this season comes to a close, can I take this opportunity to thank all of the players that have contributed to the ongoing development of rugby in Montrose and North Angus. While this has been a challenging year, it has been a significant step forward towards our vision of having a clear pathway from micros right up to senior rugby.

Clearly, we are keen to learn from this year and get ideas for improvement to help inform our plans for next season. We have prepared a short questionnaire and it would be really appreciated if players and parents were to provide feedback. The questionnaire can be found at the following link:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/R3LLFTT

This will be completely anonymous but if you want a direct response to a particular question, please include your name in the last question. The questionnaire is in the spirit of continuous improvement so please be honest and constructive.

Once we have collated the results, we will develop our plan for next year and let you know the details.

Current plans for 10/11 season

We have a lot to do over the summer but our current plans are:

S1/2 Rugby
There will be training and matches next year for a Montrose S1/2 team. Training will be on Tuesdays, Thursdays (fitness) and Sundays with matches planned for some Sundays. The fixture list will be posted on this site.

Under 15 and Under 16 Rugby
Next year, there will be rugby training and matches for those born in 1995 and 1996. Brechin has committed to continue to support North Angus. We are also planning to enter the Brewin Dolphin schools cup at U16 next year, possibly with Brechin. Most of the neighbouring clubs will only be fielding a combined U15 and U16 team so this may be an option for us.

Under 18 Rugby
For those born in 1993 and 1994, Angus Colts are planning to field an U18 team and everyone would be very welcome. While numbers may be a challenge, we are considering entering an Under 18 side into the Brewin Dolphin Schools Cup, possibly with Brechin. As we have done this year, we are prepared to put forward applications for those U18s wanting to support the efforts of the 1st XV.

Youth Coaching Course.

A youth coaching course will be held in Montrose at Union park from Tuesday 18th May (4pm to 6pm) every Tuesday for 5 weeks. This is open to ALL boys and girls from S3 and up.
It will be run by Stewart Ross (Angus rugby developement offficer) . If you are interested in attending please contact Caroline on 07932 045480.

Lads and Dads Festival.

The 78 lads and dads that took part



To celebrate the new floodlights at Union Park, Montrose Rugby Club held a ‘Lads and Dads’ festival. This was a non-competitive tournament for players that were under 22, over 35 or not currently playing rugby. 78 players formed four mixed teams with representation from Montrose, Brechin, Arbroath, Morgan, Strathmore, Mackie, Blairgowrie and HM Coastguard.

Gordon Clark, Club Treasurer said “While the rugby was very committed, the focus was on having fun. It was great to see so many people taking part and the mix of young and old really worked well. A lot of the players hadn’t played since school and that was quite a long time ago for some! We may get some new players from the evening but the most important thing was to host a community event where players and spectators could enjoy the true spirit of rugby. Now that we have upgraded the floodlights, with the support of the Angus Council Community Grant Scheme, we are going to be able to make use of Union Park for more great evenings like this. If any other sports would like to make use of the improved lighting, we would love to hear from them.”

Strathmore S1/2 Tournament

Today saw the S1/2 squad head off to the Strathmore Tournament in Forfar. The team was depleted due to injuries and personal commitments. However, Chris had his first game and Kieran was a permanent fixture throughout the tournament.

Before Montrose's first game, we loaned players to Panmure to help them field a full squad. The team then took on Strathmore, Carnoustie, Panmure and Blairgowrie.

Despite the muddy conditions, offloading and body position on the ground was very good. However, players did become isolated at times. Fitness of all players will be key in ensuring there is sufficient support for all players throughout future games. Overall, the squad demonstrated good basic skills to deliver some well-worked tries. Player of the day went to Drew for his strong running and effectively dipping his shoulder when going into contact.

Carnoustie ended up winners of the tournament but rugby was the winner with so many teams demonstrating high quality rugby in the spirit that it should be played. Kevin Mitchell, President of Strathie Sharks said "Many thanks for everyone's efforts today. It was great to see teams helping each other out and making sure that everyone got some much needed game time."

More Coaches for Montrose

Montrose Rugby held a RugbyReady Practical Course at Union Park today. The course has been developed by Scottish Rugby to increase awareness of all aspects of safety in the game and was led by Neil Graham, Scottish Rugby Coach Development Officer. As well as fourteen attendees from Montrose Rugby, coaches from Brechin, Arbroath and Stonehaven also took part in the course.

Caroline Campbell, our Club Coach Coordinator, said “Our aim is to ensure that every player, of every age, has the chance to develop to their full potential by getting the best coaching. To have fourteen more Montrose coaches complete the RugbyReady Practical Course is fantastic and we have already signed up five of the coaches for the next stage, the UKCC Level 1.”