Blackheath junior rugby

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Blackheath Junior Rugby

The junior section of Blackheath rugby club is one of the best in Kent and provides many players who may well be of a first team or higher standard in the future. Currently the club runs sections going from U5's to U18's and most of the individual sections have experienced success at some level many having won county chamionships, national Chamionsips and some of the older sections who go on foreign tours have even won tournaments internationally. The club draw players form the junior section to perform a number of jobs on matchdays such as ballboys and team mascots. This means that young players are given the opportunity to see rugby played at the third tier of the national game close up and even be involved in the match. This is a tactic used by the club to inspire the junior players to stay with the club and attempt to advance to first team level so the club will have a stronger fututre. The teams in the junior sections and mini sections currently play regular matches against teams from the surrounding area and often much further away as their is no leagues organised by the Kent rugby football union until U17 level. There are a number of tournaments availble at mini and junior level rugby. At mini level there are the Kent festival, Westcombe park festival, London Irish festival of rugby, Foxbury tournament as well as the tournament of rugby played in the town of Rugby. This is the best tournament available in the south of England at mini rugby level and Blackheath have conisitlently peroformed well over the years. At Junior level rugby there are more formats to play in than at mini level and more rules changes. At U13's level for example there is only 15's rugby with no lifting but at U16's rugby there is lifting and 7's, 10's and 15's rugby available from kent RFU as well as a number of small privately organised tournaments. In the junior section at Blackheath most years are given at least one chance to go on a tour to play in either matches or tournaments against teams they woould normally never get the chance to play. Currently age groups have toured England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, France, Spain, Belgium and Italy and there are tours to New Zealand and South Africa planned so that Blackheath rugby can be spread to even the other side of the world.

All information above is first hand knowledge and comes from years of involvement in the Blackheath rugby clubs various sections.