Welcome
Well what a fantastic 1st Sunday of the season. For those of you that are new, the weather was very typical of the weather you can expect in Ilkeston for the rest of the season, they don't call it the midland's riviera for nothing! For those that have been before, enjoy the sun while it lasts!

Training this Sunday
10.30am sharp at The Stute, and remember to bring the sun tan lotion.

Kitchens
It is our kitchen duty this weekend and the following players families are drafted into this weeks "volunteer" rota. Please can you be at the club by 0945 sharp, I will be there from 0930 to help set up. As a change from last year, all breakfast food and hot drinks are being served from "The Stute" main clubhouse. This means that we have the advantage of a larger kitchen and also Jane, the club steward, is pre-preparing the food so all you have to do is hand it out and take the money.

9/14/2014 Sam Clare Matthew Cowlard Leylan Stevenson Joseph Williams

For those that are new, we do ask everyone to take their turn to do this. Like most clubs, almost everyone involved is a volunteer, including myself and the other coaches, and the more we can put in as a group, the more our children will benefit from a great club atmosphere and all that this brings. I am always very grateful for the superb support I get from my parents and if you see me after kitchen duty there is a drink in it from me!

Inviting Friends
Please remember if your children enjoy it (and who wouldn't as it is the best game in the world), feel free to invite school and family friends along too to have a go. Quite clearly in the U8s we have good numbers already, so if they continue to rise, which we expect, I will be looking for parents who have an interest in helping out. This doesn't have to mean coaching courses etc. although we would always encourage this as a club, but can be as little as helping to direct small sessions that have been planned and explained by the existing RFU L1 coaches e.g. run the small exercises and games we play once the rules have been explained. Of course if no heads appear above the parapet I will do my usual trick of picking "volunteers" (heads up to Darren Hibbs!).
As our numbers expand the coaching team are keen to keep the quality and standard of coaching high so we are looking to keep the ratio at about 1 coach/helper to 8 kids, when all the coaching staff are present.

Great time at Tigers in Park

We entered two teams in the inaugural Tigers in the Park festival last Saturday (unfortunately this came so early in the season, before even our first training session that only exsiting players were in a position to take advantage). We all had a great day with an U8s tag festival taking place in the morning, followed by Tigers in the Park event in the park next to the ground and then off to see Leicester Tigers beat Newcastle Falcons 36 - 17 in the afternoon. The boys played really well and whilst there were some very impressive teams there, I personally feel we held our own really well.

Over 70 kids and family members from Ilkeston enjoyed the following match with a vocal 23,000 other Tigers supporters (including Dave the coach and Joe who were amazed what a proper rugby ground looks like, being Northampton Saints fans!)

For those that missed out, whilst the Tigers dont run any more festivals this year at Leicester, I will be keeping up the good relations and contacts with them, as they often run cut price promotions for the junior sections of surrounding clubs. May be we could even be flag bearers/Mascots, you never know.

For those that have never been to a premiership rugby match, the atmosphere is very different from a football match. Very family friendly and unlike a football match you can often find yourself having a pint
in your seat, whilst sitting next to an opposition fan.

A great day had by all!

Club Web Site
This weekly email and match reports are also posted on our website, along with a fixture/training list for the season and other club information and news.
Please join our Ilkeston RUFC Club Website hosted on Pitchero, to keep up to date with all the latest things going off at the club in all age groups.
Our own age specific section can be found here.

Registration Forms
For those of you that haven't already done so could you print out and fill in the attached registration form so that we can register your child with the RFU. For those that have played before please can i have your £60 subs ASAP.

For all newbies we want children to make sure they enjoy rugby first, before they commit so can i have your forms ASAP but then subs of £60 are only payable after a 4 week free period.

If you are having trouble paying subs in one go please come and have a quiet word with me, the club are extremely keen to make sure we are flexible on how subs are paid, as we don't wish this to be a barrier to playing rugby.

Shop and Ordering Kit
Training gear will be made available to order shortly.

The main playing kit is kept in the our shop in The Stute: Shorts, Socks, Beanie Hats, Ties and Gumshields
which will be open after each Sunday home match and training session from 12.00pm to 12.30pm. If it isn't then come and find me in the clubhouse as i will be recovering from a tough session where they all passed forward and were always offside! We are currently out of 32" and 36" trousers and 3-7 size socks, these will be coming in in the next few weeks.

Shirts are order only, as they are personalised with name and number especially for your child. Please see me about this.

Cheers Andrew