The Minis’ section of Guildfordians Rugby Club is its beating heart. We start at the age of 3 in Micros and run right through to Under 11’s. We train on Sunday mornings between 10 and 12, the length of the session varies from 1 hour to 2 hours depending on the players age.
A child’s age group is determined by their age at midnight on 31st August so, for example, a child who at midnight on 31st August is aged 7 would enter the Under 8s (U8s).
In Micros things start in a relatively simple way – even getting the children to run in a straight line is an accomplishment! We introduce ball skills and team games, learning to have your tag taken without the need for floods of tears is an important aim. Sometimes this takes rather a long time! Don’t worry! The players are not thrown into full contact rugby.
Throughout all the Minis age groups we try to give the children confidence, while instilling some discipline, but it’s most important to have fun. Children learn best through fun.
We offer all new players 3 free taster sessions so that they can decide if they would like to play rugby.
We provide a safe and enjoyable environment to help develop players. Our focus as coaches is to develop players to be better next week than they were in the previous week, to be part of a team, have fun and enjoy rugby.
Moving on from the Micros, the ‘tag game’ is played at under 7’s and under 8’s. Contact Rugby is not permitted until under 9’s. Further aspects of the full 15 a side game are introduced gradually following the RFUs guidelines.
RFU Age Grade ProgressionGreat highlights of our year are our the festivals, we aim to host 2 Mini festivals a year - one in the Autumn and one in Spring. Our under 7’s to under 11’s play in the festivals against teams from all over the South East, some coming from as far away as Guernsey.
In between the festivals, there will be home training and opportunities for joint training sessions and matches with other local clubs. These sessions give our players a chance to hone their skills and interact with players outside of their club.
We are a very friendly, volunteer run club, with social events throughout the year,
We actively encourage parental participation and most of our coaches simply started off as willing parent helpers.
So, what’s stopping you and your Mini? A warm welcome awaits you all at Guildfordians Rugby Club whatever age your child is.
Training areas and times are at the bottom of this page.
The 2024-25 season starts on
Sunday 1st September come along and Pitch Up for Rugby with the Minis.
We are looking forward to seeing you at Stoke Park.
Tony Wiener - Minis Chairman and Coachminis.chairman@grfc.co.uk