Hampshire RFU - Andover RFC Youth Academy celebrate season

Andover RFC Youth Academy celebrate season

Wednesday, 23 June 2010

Andover Rugby Club's Youth Academy's 2009/2010 season ended in style with a weekend of fun and celebrations. On Friday 14 May, the club's annual charity ball was held in a large marquee at the Goodship Ground with dinner and dancing into the early hours incorporating a fantastic auction. The event raised a total of over £6,000 for the club.

This was followed on Sunday 16 May by their Academy Presentation day, with Mark Day from Simplyhealth, the club's principal sponsor and Ian Price, Community Schools Manager from Premiership side London Irish, helping Youth Chairman Dickie Staff perform the presentations.

The Academy was also delighted to welcome Clive Cashell (RFU Regional Rugby Development Manager), Mike Glogg (President of Hampshire RFU), Sir George Young (Andover MP), His Worship The Mayor Chris Lynn, Sue Shepherd (Andover Vision Manager), Faye Marsh (Andover Sound) and Shaun Rule (Executive Chairman of Andover RFC) as well as a number of the club's squad sponsors to the event.

Each team had a Coach's Player and Most Improved Player as selected by their coaching team, and the players in each of the 12 age groups previously voting for their own Player's Player nominee, the winner being the player with the highest number of votes. Each of the 350+ players also received a momento as a reminder of their successful season.

Among the highlights of the morning wa the presentation of awards to the 13 Andover players who had been selected to play for various Hampshire squads this season - a real achievement in a very competitive county.

Two special awards were made. One to former Andover player Alex Bradley, who during the past season has been selected to play for England Under 16s and one to Callum Staff who has recently completed his Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (ASSE) with London Irish.

During Dickie Staff's initial welcoming introduction, he was delighted to announce the ongoing support of Simplyhealth as principal sponsor for the 2010/2011 season and also a generous donation of funding by the company towards the clubs ongoing pitch refurbishment project, which was undertaken towards the end of May. Dickie thanked both Simplyhealth and all the other local sponsors and sporting partners involved in the club, whose financial help is crucial in maintaining the current excellent standards at the Goodship Ground.

The Academy Junior Clubman Award was presented to Charlie Ward, from the Colts squad, who in the opinion of his coaches displayed real dedication to his team during the past year. The Academy Senior Clubman’s Award was presented this year to Rhonda Sturges who has been involved with the club for a number of years providing expert coaching to the U6’s squad - a key role in introducing young children to the sport.

Simplyhealth’s Mark Day commented: “We are delighted to continue our support of Andover RFC’s Youth Academy. With over 350 players, the club plays a significant role in sport for youth in the area and it is fantastic to see the progress and achievements these young players make year on year.”

Dickie Staff, Chairman of the Youth Academy, said: “It’s been another fantastic season for the Youth Academy. All the squads have worked very hard in training and there have been some brilliant successes in competitive matches. It is also great to see such a large number of players coming into the lower age groups which stands the club in excellent stead for the future. This in conjunction with a number of our Colts players who are now playing in the senior teams equates to a whole new bright future for Andover RFC. The club are especially proud of Alex Bradley’s selection into the England U16’s team – this is a magnificent achievement and takes our tally of players selected to play for different England teams now to four. I look forward to welcoming old and new members to the Goodship Ground for our first training session on Sunday 5th September."