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Last July I berated the ARU in my Roar article ‘ARU abandons Junior Rugby in regional NSW’. It had been predicated on the very poor state of junior Rugby on the Central Coast, with just 6 teams competing in the u/12 competition and 3 of those with insufficient numbers to properly compete.
This was coupled with the fact that we thought we were losing our ARU funded Development Officer, as we were being told that he was not going to be replaced.
I am pleased to report that our Development Officer has been upgraded by a new Development Manager and that there is a new vitality emerging from the ARU. There is a new “School’s Rugby 7s” program being implemented to work in with the Rugby in the Olympics program which will see an aggressive 7s program rolled out Australia wide.
More pleasing has been the development of a High School Rugby 7’s for Year 7 tournament that will see the high schools of the Central Coast competing for the Jesse Parahi Cup later in February – Jesse is an Avoca Beach Sharks junior who is a current member of the Australian 7s team and is in contention to represent at the next Olympics. Nine High Schools have signed up to play with one school fielding 3 teams! We are hoping to have a final number of around 15.
The Rugby 7’s for Year 7 tournament will see between 200 and 300 Year 7 boys (12/13 yrs) boys play 7s Rugby – many playing Rugby for the first time. It is hoped that all will enjoy their experience of Rugby and that as a result some may decide to play Rugby this winter. As Rugby can do, it has brought together passionate rugby people in the community – Clubs and Schools – to work together with our local development manager for the advancement of our game.
Time will tell how effective the new vigour for Rugby 7s is within our rugby community but it would seem the rugby ball has already started to roll on the Central Coast.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.