The Alliance Rugby Under 9 side • The ARC Under 9 (U9) side is for ages 6 to 9. • This is our entry level side for Alliance Rugby. • It is coed and played as flag or touch. Recent Developments Rugby is a fast growing sport here in the U.S. This year ABC aired a major Rugby tournament on regular TV, and this summer marked the first year that ABC showed the college Rugby finals on TV. Here at Alliance Rugby we started the U9 in the winter/spring of 2010 and it was a big success. That season there was one other U9 side in Texas, at Katy, and we were able to play them at a couple of tournaments. In between, we mixed our U9 players with U11 players and played touch matches of our combined squads. For 2011, it looks like we will have more U9 sides join us and will have enough U9 players in the ARC to field a couple of sides (Black Knights and White Knights). The objective is to get a few sides started up in the Alliance area, making it easier to have “neighborhood teams” even though there are no geographic boundaries/limits. The focus is fun! The focus of our U9 program is fun with rugby. We teach the kids many fundamental rugby skills and do it primarily through a multitude of games as opposed to drills. We do introduce the players to some drills but always keep the focus on fun. With the younger ages, the players will learn a lot more and have more fun when we keep them engaged with games and less with the regimentation of non-stop drills. By having the U9 players playing non contact, they are able to focus on the basics of running and passing without being worried about contact. Contact is Optional For our U9 players desiring contact playing, we have the option to allow them to “play up” to the U11 level with parental and coaching agreement. This option of both non contact and contact games have worked very well for us in the past. Fitness will be the byproduct of running around in the various games and they’ll get fit without a “boot camp” environment. Positive Coaching USA Rugby is also a proud member of the Positive Coaching Alliance. Positive Coaching Alliance focuses on coaching youth sports student athletes to learn valuable life lessons. USA Rugby provides the Positive coaching alliance online courses to all certified coaches. We at Alliance Rugby are committed to promote a ‘win-win’ attitude, winning on the field and off it and where “winning” is defined as a player giving their very best effort and measuring success in terms of personal improvement. Player Development First and foremost, we want the players to have fun playing rugby and develop basic ball handling, running, and introduction to rugby specific skills. Leadership opportunities for the U9 players will be available leading warm ups during practice and before matches and we will have rotating team captains each match, allowing every player to perform as team captain. In addition, we will look for U9 players who would like to support the U11/13/15 sides by helping with “shagging” rugby balls after warm-ups and during the match and carrying water to the players during breaks in the match. U9 Season Schedule U9 Season Schedule What Next? So, I’m guessing you’re ready to “hit the pitch” and you wonder what’s next. Take a look at the ARC Youth Welcome Packet and the other pages in this section of our web site. Please give us a shout if you have any questions. This packet has “all things ARC” to include dues and equipment questions that are often asked. Welcome to Alliance U9 Rugby and see you out on the pitch! Registration and More Information Note: normal cutoff for the qualifying age group is 1 Sep (ie. a player that turns 9 on 2 Sep is eligible to play U9; a player that turns 9 on 1 Sep would normally play U11, however we want all of our kids to play where they are comfortable and so if there is a player who is not quite ready to move up to U11 contact, they are more than welcome to continue playing U9 non contact). See ARC Youth Registration for more registration information. ARC Coaches’, Parents’, and Players’ Code of Ethics USA Rugby’s “Rugby for Parents” While we play with some variations from the USA Rugby “Rookie Rugby", the information Rookie Rugby puts out is a very good source of information for the ARC’s U9 program .