The boys and girls were growing a little jealous when reading their back copies of The Warrior match-day magazine – why do the Warriors go to all the other clubs and not us?
It’s difficult for our young boys and clubs to understand that the Warrior crowd’s made up of players from the partner clubs like Droitwich, Malvern, Bromsgrove and so on. But last Sunday it was our turn, the day our Warriors spent the morning helping out at Mini-Junior training. And what a day it turned out to be!
Inevitably, not all of the 500 boys and girls could be there. The Ladies U17s and U14s were all on County duty against Warwickshire and Staffordshire – winning both, by the way – while the U14s and 15s were up the road against Moseley.
But that still left nine of the 13 age groups at home to enjoy the morning.
The main boys and girls to benefit were the six to 12-year-olds, who were entertaining Moseley and partner club Droitwich in a triangular. Despite the players wondering around, our children managed to concentrate long enough to win the vast majority of matches.
The coaches love a day like it just as much. It’s always good to brush shoulders with the players and hear their honest opinions of the plusses and minuses of the season. As for the mums… well, this is a family programme!
“We appreciate that Dan Zaltzman and his team does a wonderful job in the community, organising such visits to partner clubs and schools,” says Bryan Radford, the section’s club welfare officer and secretary. “But it’s always special when the first team does their ‘home’ visit. Many of the kids were at the game on Saturday, and I suspect all were glued to the box last weekend. Having witnessed the return to winning ways, there’s a real buzz at Sixways on a Sunday, so the team couldn’t have picked a better day.
“The whole section’s grateful for the time and enthusiasm put in by the lads here and elsewhere. At the end of the day, the more time they put in elsewhere, it strengthens other local teams, which all means more and better rugby for our lads on tap here in Worcestershire.”
Stuart Preece’s U12s players were among those who went home as happy little Warriors-in-the-making after Ryan Powell, Shane Drahm, Dale Rasmussen, Tevita Taumoepeau, Aleki Lutui and Aisea Havili joined them to pass on tips and encouragement.
“It was great for the boys to hear and see the Warriors, who they watch most Saturdays, explain the fundamentals of rugby,” says U12s head coach Stuart. “By understanding these basics, as the Warriors did when they were young, the boys could be able to develop into Premiership rugby players.
“All the lads were on such a high, and I wish I’d been around the next day to hear some of the stories being told to their friends at school. It was a great PR exercise by the club, well carried out. A big thank you!”