I’ve been coaching minis and youth at Wasps for ten years and this is my third time with the U9’s. I can say with hand on heart, that the group of boys we have this year are extraordinary. We had a great festival today, not only because the rain kept off, but more than that, the boys shone. they represented themselves and the club so well in their attitude, passion and work rate and were phenomenal today, the boys were communicating, self correcting and all putting in a huge effort to improving their game. They played some tough opposition today and did so with some great tackling, passing and best still working together as teams. That are all a credit to the ethos of the club and are a great reflection of you as parents.

The bonds and friendships they make now I know will continue for their whole rugby playing careers, I personally believe all team sports are important but rugby has got be one of the best. There has been a great deal of debate about the changes made by the RFU regarding age grade rugby and today proved that you can have a competitive mornings rugby with some great opposition and without the need to prove an ultimate winner. All three clubs had mixed teams today and they were all so evenly matched there wasn't a game with more than a two try difference, and most importantly, the boys had fun.

Thanks to your commitment and help we had our best turnout today of 57 boys, and with visitors, nearly 100 players taking part in 32 games, not bad for a Sunday morning in February!