Minis set to tackle new adventures

MORE than 500 players aged between seven and 17 will be in the island this weekend for the Lloyds TSB Mini-Youth Rugby Festival. The Mini-Youth Rugby Club, which won the VisitGuernsey Trophy for outstanding event organisers at last week's Guernsey Press Sporting Achievement Awards, are staging the event for a seventh year.

They host teams from Bridport, Tunbridge Wells, Romsey, Loughborough and Jersey.

Jersey's involvement will ensure competition in some of the younger age groups, as some of the visitors may bring just one or two sides.

Dave Parish, the director of mini-youth rugby, said that the festival was the highlight of the sporting year for many local youngsters.

'For a lot of them this is the focus of their season. Two days of solid rugby. This is the incentive for them to train so they can show off their skills,' he said.

'The event provides an effective way to introduce our players to competitive fixtures without the overhead of travel and accommodation associated with UK trips.

'We started this because one of the things we suffer from is a lack of competitive fixtures.

'The cost of travelling away is prohibitive, though we try to get away a couple of times a year and this is a more cost-effective way of doing things.

'The reputation of the festival is growing year on year such that clubs are adding the event to their fixture calendar.'

The festival starts at 1pm tomorrow and continues on Sunday morning to a close at 1.30pm to allow teams to return home.

Matches, which vary between five and 25 minutes each way, will take place at the Rugby Club, Memorial Field but most games will be at the Grammar playing fields at Les Varendes.

'I always enjoy the kids playing,' said Parish. 'This is the one time when we can see the development of rugby from five- and six-year-olds through to 16-year-olds. You can walk around the pitches and really see the progress through the age groups.'

The event is heavily sponsored and includes support from VisitGuernsey, which welcomed the fact that 1,000 visitors are expected over an out-of-season weekend.

'An awful lot of hotels are full this weekend because of us,' said Parish. 'There is one party of 56 coming and they have just one team of 17 players.'

He welcomed the support. 'Until a couple of years back I don't think they appreciated the scale of the event. At this time of year the business it generates makes a good contribution to the visitor economy.'

Condor, which is providing its events trailer as 'nerve centre' for the weekend, has also been praised for considering travelling teams in setting its Sunday sailing schedule.

'This has made a difference to the number of teams able to attend,' said Parish.