Old Ruts are getting younger
Old Rutlishians RFC are not so old anymore and they are growing as a result.
They have taken their single senior men’s team to three men’s league squads thanks to creating strong bonds between their U16s and colts and the senior players, and keeping in touch with those who have gone off to university.
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The club chair coaches and manages the colts squad and four senior players attend most colts fixtures to coach the team on matchday. The seniors also train with the colts twice a week, making this work by withdrawing all contact rugby from these training sessions.
RFU coach developer Chris Spedding, who has helped Old Ruts by delivering integration sessions, said: “Bringing together U16 players and coaches with their colts and integrating fledgling colts players into senior rugby creates social bonds and helps players have that connection with coaches and leading seniors players as they move up. It is certainly working very well at the club.”
All colts players are encouraged to play at least one senior rugby match before heading off to university or to work, and a successful U22s side plays matches in the Christmas and Easter breaks, keeping players engaged with the club and reuniting them with old teammates. Surrey Rugby also run an U22 competition to keep students connected to their clubs and old colts club rivalries.
Old Ruts’ efforts to bring young players closer as they transition to senior rugby means that they now have 100 active players, 60 of them under the age of 25. Of their 1st XV squad regulars, only two players are over 25. Recently, no less than eight current colts players started in the Old Ruts 3rd XV league match, and won!
The club also pays £30 in travel expenses to any players at university when they come home to visit, providing they turn out and play for their Old Ruts club. All university players also get free club membership and free playing kit.
Now the club wants to create the same success for their women players, having just launched a women's league side as a destination for their thriving girls U16s and U18s squads.
Paul Cecil, Club Chair, said: “It has not always been straightforward succeeding in this amazing integration of our club youth into seniors rugby and we have faced some hurdles along the way, as there definitely is no silver bullet solution here.
“You have to deliver with the right mindset, with the right people, in the right way and always with huge empathy stacked in favour of your young colts and continue to do this all consistently well. Now the club youth look up to seniors and see older players who they aspire to play alongside.
We are in a privileged place where the new young heads are driving the seniors’ culture rather than the other way around and this has built a golden environment where now the youth are pushing on the seniors’ door rather than being pulled through it! Next step for the club is to replicate this with our women's and girls’ rugby model.”
If your club is doing something to help transition age-grade players to adult rugby, tell us about it to be in with a chance of playing at Twickenham.
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