Camelot Colts Win Team Award

Congratulations to all of the Colts coaches and players on winning the Rugby World Magazine Team of the month award for February.

You can read the article in this months edition of the magazine, on sale now or by selecting the document below.

This is a superb achievement by all involved. Never an easy age group; the pressures of studies, part time jobs along with the occasional party :-) means that most clubs (not just ourselves) end up merging the U17s and U18s into a single age group to keep playing number viable. For many this is the first time they have played in teams with players in another age group.

The way these boys have come together and put in the performances has been superb to see; so far this season the team have played 7, won 7, scored nearly 200 points and conceded less than 40.

Arguably making this achievement even more impressive is - this has been achieved without a number of boys, who unusually for Camelot, have been unavailable due to other rugby commitments' playing for schools such as Berkhamsted, Harrow, Haileybury and Millfield, and / or with representative rugby. We look forward to welcoming these boys back into the fold as and when time allows them to come back and train and play with their mates.

For some of these boys this will be their last season of youth rugby. The challenge for all of us involved is to ensure they transition to senior rugby and keep playing this game we all love.

Those boys going away to University next year will be encouraged to play University Rugby, but alongside this we will provide the opportunity to stay intouch and involved with the club and therefore their rugby mates via our relaunched Camelot Exiles programme. This aims to give the boys a couple of games in the Camelot Blue and White as well as a couple of social events when they return to Hemel during the Christmas and Easter holidays.

Those boys staying local and entering the world of work will be supported in the transition to senior rugby via social events and combined training sessions. Keep an eye out for more on all of these initiatives in the coming weeks and months.

For the younger boys I look forward to watching them next season help the younger lads take what might initially feel this daunting step up into an age group with older boys.

I'm sure the boys will look forward to receiving their base layers and put them to good use.

Well done to all involved.