The Crescent Junior Rugby club is bringing up the next generation of rugby superstars.
The junior rugby season begins on April 22, and the club has four teams — two under-7, one under-9 and one under-11 team.
Ages 5 up to 13 are welcome to join the club in all their glory.
Junior side convener Nikita Falconer and Crescent Club secretary is excited for another season to go ahead and expressed her love of seeing the children play.
‘‘We have a great bunch of kids here in Crescent and they always get excited for the Saturday games,’’ she said.
‘‘This year we have a bunch of new rippa rugby players and first time tacklers, which is pretty awesome. It’s great to see the kids progressing over time, especially year after year.’’
She doesn’t grade her teams but focuses more on building confidence in the children and pushing them to learn new skills and improve on basic techniques.
‘‘Last year, the kids played their wee hearts out, many improved over the season and they always enjoyed getting a saveloy from New World and a milo at the end of their games.
‘‘Sometimes I think they just come for the saveloys, but it’s getting them out there nonetheless and they’re all having a go,’’ Falconer said.
‘‘I’m always encouraging the kids to have a go. We’ve got some amazing talent from the girls who play for Crescent juniors and we’re excited to see how they progress too.
‘‘Rugby is for everyone, and we’ve got plenty of keen players not only on our fields, but throughout our entire club.’’
The junior club has done fundraisers including Easter raffles, sausage sizzles, quiz nights and Falconer is encouraging people to keep an eye out for upcoming fundraisers for the club.
Her main message to the sporty youngsters was to makey sure they ‘‘have fun and go hard’’.
‘‘We love the culture we have at Crescent and the kids look up to their senior players, so we expect the young players to have a great season and we’re excited for all games within the club.’’
If people wanted to register they would have to get back to her before the end of next Thursday, she said.
‘‘We’ve got trainings every Thursday from 4pm-5:30pm, where both the kids and parents come along. We’re pretty tight-knit here, I enjoy seeing the kids playing and the parents getting out and about.’’
Contact Nikita Falconer on (027) 3580-218 or see the Crescent Junior Rugby Facebook page for details.
