All children already have the basic level of fitness that will allow them to take part in mini rugby. Their fitness will improve over the course of the season as long as they attend training on a regular basis.

Although rugby can be very physical, weight conditioning is not recommended for children whose bodies are still developing and consequently we will focus on aerobic exercise. The best contribution that can be made out with training is to follow a healthy diet. In particular, before training and matches it is important to avoid foods like:

• Chocolate Bars
• High sugar biscuits and/or cakes
• Sweets
• High fibre muffins
• Beans
• Fizzy Drinks

These cause a sudden increase in the blood sugar levels and, in response, the body produces insulin to bring these back down. The overall effect is that the blood sugar level drops below the normal level, making the player feel tired, meaning they run out of energy before the end of the game. It is also recommended that you avoid the "traditional" Sunday cooked breakfast and you should discourage children from eating hamburgers between matches at tournaments. You should instead serve up easy to digest foods - high in carbohydrate, moderate fat and low in fibre such as:

• Cereals
• Ripe bananas
• Yoghurt
• Sandwiches peanut butter, lean ham
• Sports bar
• Sports drink
• Pasta

Most important of all - make sure they drink lots of water. Dehydration can cause depletion of muscle stores. Also avoid energy drinks which contain caffeine - they not only make some children's behaviour difficult to control they also act as diuretics meaning more sweating and more frequent visits to the toilet.