Letterkenny Mini Newsletter Nov 2011
We extend a very warm welcome to all our new players who are trying rugby for the first time. We hope you are settling in well and enjoying rugby and making lots of new friends. Our new clubhouse is nearing completion and will soon be available to us for use on Saturday mornings. This will benefit all sections of the club by providing fantastic changing facilities and an area for socialising and catering, which will give our club a huge boost.
DEVELOPMENT LEVY
Thank you for contributing to our club with our session based €2 development levy. These funds contribute to the catering and maintenance of our grounds and clubhouse. Please ensure players attend with these fees as agreed at the Mini AGM. Please be assured that these fees are used solely for maintenance of grounds, clubhouse development and the provision of teas and refreshments after the matches and training sessions. No one in the club is getting paid and most coaches and volunteers provide all their training equipment at their own expense. Unfortunately in these difficult times we have to match our income with our outgoings with very little sponsorship or help from outside. We have already raised just over €1000 from our €2 levy. It takes €60,000 to run our club, so this is a small but important step in the right direction.
REGISTRATION
Many thanks to all the players and their families for registering and paying the annual subs. We have collected more subs this year than ever before thanks due to our many new players. Any remaining players who have not signed up for the season are encouraged to contact Michael MacGinty on Saturday mornings. This is vital for all players for insurance reasons. The club website can also take registrations and payments. Please ensure that your children wear the boot tags indicating them as fully paid up members.
COMMUNICATIONS
If a player or family member is not getting texts or emails please contact your coach to get your details on the system. Any problems with this process please call Peter Orsi on 086 3800280. All club news is available on our website www.letterkennyrfc.ie
LEAD COACH CONTACT DETAILS please contact your coaches if you have queries
Under 12s Jim Sweeney 087 6541478 Girls Rugby
Under 11s Karl Quinn 0863181338 John McBrearty 0872071339
Under10s Jeremy Worth 0868528300 Mary Walker Callaghan 0876791898
Under 9s Boyd Robinson 0872362998
Under 8s Peter Orsi 0863800280
Under 6/7s Paddy Bond 0862390325
These are the main coaches/ managers and will be helped by other volunteer coaches who are always welcome to help with our players.
CATERING
Valerie has very kindly agreed to provide teas and snacks for the players after each mini session and home match. Any volunteer who wishes to help Valerie even for just one morning during the season will make a big difference. Please let Valerie know if you are able to help in this way. Phone 0894445570
FIXTURE LIST
The first three fixtures went really well with great performances against Derry, Inishowen, Tir Connail, Enniskillen, Clogher Valley and Omagh Rugby Clubs. We have three more fixtures before Christmas and look forward to some more excellent rugby from all our players.
SKILL SESSIONS FOR MINI PLAYERS
The early season skill sessions went very well for September and most of October until the weather deteriorated and the clocks changed. We will start these sessions again in the latter part of the season to continue our players basic skill training. Please forgive me (Jeremy) for not getting the text out. I did try to communicate this through the text system, but a technical problem meant I only sent the texts to myself. Apologies to any players or parents who turned up last Monday evening.
CLUB CODE OF CONDUCT
Please take note of Club Code of Conduct - available on the website. It is essential that we set a good standards as coaches and parents so that our children and players see us as positive role models and respect our high standards of behaviour . Please only shout encouragement from the sidelines and never ever abuse any players or referees regardless of the situation. Our principle aim to is to have fun through our club and the sport of rugby and to give our young players a really good time. All players will be played in matches and will be encouraged and praised for their efforts. The results are truly secondary to us as coaches and parents. We just want to see all the children have fun and develop into good rugby players.
OTHER SPORTS
All young players want to try many different sports and we encourage this. If there are any clashes we feel very strongly that it is the child’s choice that takes preference. There will be no pressure to give up or miss other sporting events due to rugby. It is in every young athletes interest to be as active as possible in several different activities. There will always be another match!
MINI/YOUTH FINANCE COMMITTEE
We are setting up a new committee to help support the good work of the existing Youth Mini Committee. The sole focus will be the financial management of the Youth and Mini Sections. We will look at all the various ways of supporting our section of the club and develop a really positive strategy for our development into the future. While times are hard, there is goodwill in our membership and in our community. We need to find innovative solutions to our ongoing financial commitments and support our young players in the best possible way. The first meeting is on Monday 21st November at Arena 7 at 7pm. All parents are welcome. We will be delighted to meet any new volunteers with new ideas or offers of help.
COACHES / VOLUNTEERS
Any parents who would like to pull on a pair of boots and join the fun are very welcome. We are always looking for new coaches and no experience of rugby is necessary. Some of our best coaches have never played rugby in their lives. We have regular courses for new Mini Coaches run by the IRFU and we are hoping for a course close to us in early 2012. If you want to help in a different way with either administration or catering your help will make a valuable contribution to our existing volunteers.
MATCH REPORTS / PHOTOGRAPHS
Players and parents love to see their match exploits in the paper and on the website. We need brief match reports and team photos from our fixtures for our website and for the local papers.
Please could any watching parents organize team photos with the club coaches and then email them to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
INTERNATIONAL TICKETS
Orders are now being taken for Six Nations Tickets. Any members who wish to order tickets please send a deposit for €50 to Letterkenny RFC, c/o Garry Clarke Solicitors, Pearse Road, Letterkenny with details of your name, contact number, no. of tickets required and your preferred game. If there's a shortage of tickets a draw will take place. Anyone unsuccessful will have their deposit refunded. All orders should be in by November 30 at the latest. Any queries E-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
UNDER 11 AND UNDER 12 TOUR TO SCOTLAND
All members of the Under 11 and under 12 squads are asked to put Easter 2012 in their diaries for a tour to Ayr in Scotland. We will be playing a Blitz against local clubs at Ayr RFC in South West Scotland. Any families who wish to travel with us for this exciting trip will be very welcome. Details will be made available in the next few weeks as plans are finalized
Any queries or offers of help please contact Jeremy Worth 0868528300 or Michael MacGinty 0862510117
With many thanks and best wishes for the rest of the season,
Jeremy Worth
Mini Convenor
Next matches-
Saturday November 19th All away to Derry
Sat Dec 3rd – 4 way Blitz (U7s, U8s and U9s in Omagh, U10s, U11s and U12s in Letterkenny.
Sat Dec 10th U12s, U10s and U8s away to Ballyshannon. All other teams will have training at home.