We hope that you and all your families are keeping well and safe. Please spend 5-10mins to read and digest the important information below which will help keep us all safe and able to continue to play our sport.

RFU On-Field Guidance & Resources below (with hyperlinks)
“Stage D1 (from Monday 29 March) and Stage D2 (from Monday 26 April) guidance below includes advice for incremental contact training, building up to a max of 20 mins per session, excluding scrums and mauls, recommended coach to player ratio, equipment use and sanitisation advice”
• Full Stage D1 and D2 guidance
• Examples of types of contact permitted in training
• 10 minute video outlining key information to support the return to Stages D1 & D2
• Presentation slides summary from RFU Coach Development
• Coaches Q&A webinar on Stages D1 and D2
• Age Grade changes (v.3 dated 25 March 2021)

Beccs Mini & Junior first Sunday back is Easter Sunday 4 April 2021

Summary rules & protocols:

The weekly road cone rota!
Covid pre-attendance self-assessment survey monkey remains compulsory for all attending
Sunday mini rugby Micros-U11: 9:30am-10:45am (micros 45mins, U7+U8 60mins)
Sunday junior rugby Girls +Boys U12-U18: 11:15am-12:30pm
Sunday Girls U18: 12:30pm-1:45pm
Coaches and players should remain social distanced during breaks.
Activity should last no longer than 15 minutes without a break to sanitise (hands & rugby balls/tags)
Contact activity not to exceed 20mins per session
Any equipment such as tackle pads, shields, bags should be cleaned and sanitised after each individual players use
Players should bring their own water bottles (team water bottles NOT to be used)
Toilets in the clubhouse will be open & accessible from pitch-side only, the rest of the clubhouse including changing rooms are closed and out of bounds
Midweek training sessions can continue, there is plenty of space as daylight gets longer
All of the the above apply to sessions held at any time.

Spectators
Only one parent/guardian permitted per child. “While we understand it is difficult for clubs to police, please remind parents during minis and junior sessions that we must respect the spirit in which grassroots sport has been granted permission to return. Please strongly discourage parents from huddling together on sidelines.”

Mini & Junior friendly fixtures under adapted laws (incl contact) against other clubs permitted from 26 April 2021

All fixture times & venue TBC
Girls U13, U15 & U18 fixture on Friday 14 May
Mini fixtures on Sunday 9 May and Sunday 23 May
Junior Boys fixtures on Sunday 9 May and Sunday 23 May
Allocated two-week break from contact with other clubs, to minimise risk
Fixture dates avoid the two May Bank Holiday weekends, 3+30 May
Training days on 1,16+30 May
“The priority is friendly fixtures that maximise the number of players safely getting out on a rugby pitch, rather than focus on the match result. Consideration of other sports participation and Year 11/13 academic assessments is important”.

Age Grade Rules

Progression to the next set of Age Grade rules for Minis U7-U11 & boys only groups U12 onwards are suspended until 1st January 2022. “The rules delay means, as an example, U9s in 2020-21 still become U10s in 2021-22 but will play U9 rules from September to December and U10 rules from January.”
Girls in U13, U15 and U18 multi-age bands will move as usual to that band and play those rules from September 2021. Beccs have further confirmed with the Kent RFU (by Email 25/03/2021) that Girls currently playing in Mini U11 mixed team, should move to Girls U13 from September 2021. The RFU “will provide a specific training/playing guide to ensure safe player progression and transition, targeted for release in April 2021.”

The end of the 2020-21 age grade season is 31 May 2021

The age grade out of season regulation (for the period June to August 2021) is suspended in 2021
“An RFU Age Grade Summer Activity Framework covering all aspects of age grade training and playing activity (including CB, DPP and Rugby Camps) will follow in its place. This is being developed by the RFU & is due to be released on Friday 9th April 2021.”

*** Summer Activity guidance documents published 09/04/2021 ***

Should you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact either of us. We look forward to welcoming everyone back to Beccs HQ at Sparrow's Den.

Kind regards,
Daniel Kemp (Chair of Junior/Youth Rugby)
& Phil Reid (Chair of Mini Rugby)