The weather did its best to thwart rugby last week. With many matches cancelled it was good to at least get a joint training session away with Old Ruts.

This Sunday promises to be both sunnier and warmer.

The u7s-u9s are away at the Sutton & Epsom Festival (Priesthill Lane, Ewell) and the u10s and u11s are away at the Guildford Festival.

For those at home we welcome Sutton & Epsom to play the u12 boys and u14 girls.

We need your coats

WRAP-UP LONDON: Sophie Castle (our Safeguarding Officer) is collecting coats again this year for Wrap up London. Please have a rummage at home and bring in any unused coats to the clubhouse on either 13 or 20 November.

Still top of the table

ADULT RUGBY: Huge win for the Men's 1st XV at home last weekend over Sutton & Epsom, which sees them maintain top spot in the league. They have an away tie at Bracknell RFC this Saturday. The Women's XV game was called off last Sunday - they play Sutton & Epsom at home this Sunday.

Pitch plan for Sunday

A busy Sunday ahead with lots of youth matches at home for the following. Would all visitors please follow our Parking Policy, avoid parking on streets with cones our (they are there for a reason) and listen to the advice and requests from our volunteers parents helping with parking marshalling.

U13 Boys (vs OCs)
U14 Boys (vs Cobham)
U14 Girls (vs S&E)
U16 Boys (vs Effingham & Leatherhead)
U18 Girls (vs S&E).

We also welcome the U7, U9 and U11s from Old Ruts (our U8 and U10 are away at Old Ruts).

ADULT RUGBY UPDATE: The Men's 1st XV winning run continued with a hard fought win on the road at Havant (11-16). You can check out the league table on the England Rugby website.

This week: We host a massive derby this Saturday (5 November) against Sutton & Epsom: 2.30pm kick off (U9s on ball boy/girl duties) and we are looking for a big home crowd. Lunch is being served for everyone beforehand (£5). The Women's XV are away at Hammersmith & Fulham Ladies on Sunday. You can book your lunch here: https://bit.ly/3DVS9xT.

Pitch plan for Sunday

**Remember - the clocks go back this Sunday so you get another hour in bed**

The U9 to U11s are away at Warlingham for a festival this Sunday. We welcome Battersea Ironsides to play the U15 Boys and the U16 Girls host Cobham.

Two youth results to report: The Colts beat London Welsh 24-12 and the U16 Boys lost to Guildford 12-7.

The adults: Mens 1st XV: Big win on the road for the Men's 1st XV against Maidenhead 67-15. They are away at Havant this Saturday. Next home game is a big derby against Sutton & Epsom - U9s on ball boy/girl duties for that one. The Women's XV had an excellent win at home over Canterbury Ladies 36-7. They are away this Sunday with a game at Hammersmith & Fulham Ladies.

Pitch plan for Sunday

This Sunday the U16 Boys are away at Guildford, and the U14 Boys play London Scottish at home.

Last Sunday the Colts chalked up a second solid win in the Waterfall Cup, beating London Welsh 24-12.

The adult men's 1st XV won big in a table-top clash to go top. Check out the league table on the England Rugby website. Sadly the women's XV were unlucky against local rivals Ironsides, losing 12-17.

Pitch plan for Sunday

The U12 and U14 Girls are away this weekend at the Surrey Values Festivals and the U18 Girls are away in the National Cup. The U14 Boys welcome Teddington for a joint training session and the Colts play London Welsh in the afternoon (2pm).

MIXED ABILITY RUGBY: Fancy pulling on some rugby boots? Mixed Ability Rugby is the format for adults of ANY ability to enjoy a game of rugby. Wimbledon have been challenged to a match at home on Saturday 26th November. Whether you are a minis parent or coach or just a friend, if you are interested in playing please contact Edward Beale this Sunday. He will be at the clubhouse between 10.30 and 11.30 wearing a quartered Wimbledon rugby top. After this please email him on mixedabilityrugby.wrfc@gmail.com.

ADULT RUGBY: The Men's 1st XV are back action on Saturday at home against Oxford Harlequins (3pm kick off). The Women's XV are away at Battersea Ironsides Ladies on Sunday.

FIREWORKS - SUNDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2022
Tickets are nearly sold out so book now for our fantastic fireworks display organised by our wonderful U10s crew and the parents of Willington School and West Wimbledon Primary School. Book tickets at https://bit.ly/WimbledonFireworks

Pitch plan for Sunday

After the huge fun of having 1,100 kids at the club last week for our festival we have a much quieter day this Sunday.

Most of the minis are away at Esher for a festival but we do have a few visitors for the youths: the U12B welcome Rosslyn Park, the U13B have Portsmouth RFC making the journey up from the south coast and the U16B play Farnham in the Waterfall Cup. A big welcome to the visitors.

ADULT RUGBY UPDATE
The men's 1st XV had a thumping win away at Royal Wootton Bassett and have this weekend off. They go again at home on 15 October when Oxford Harlequins are the visitors. OH are one point above the Dons and are top of the league so a win would see us go top. Looking for a big home crowd for that one (U10's on ball boy/girl duties), which also coincides with the President's Lunch, so why not double up and get a table for that?!? The women's XV went down 31-5 to the Guildford Gazelles. They also have the weekend off before making the short journey to play Battersea Ironsides Ladies on 16 October.

FIREWORKS - SUNDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2022
Tickets are selling fast so book now for our fantastic fireworks display organised by our wonderful U10s crew and the parents of Willington School and West Wimbledon Primary School. Book tickets at https://bit.ly/WimbledonFireworks

Pitch plan for Sunday

With over 1,000 kids and 104 teams, this year's Wimbledon RFC Autumn Minis Rugby Festival will be an absolute cracker! Welcome one and all.

A huge welcome to the clubs joining us this Sunday

We'll be open from 8.30am with bacon butties and coffees to kick-start your day. Referee briefings take pace by the relevant age group control tents at 9.30am and matches kick-off at 10am sharp. Please arrive early as we must start on time!

Parking

In short, you'll need to be an early-arriver to park in one of the two club carparks. A few permits have been issued for Inclusive Rugby players and visiting head coaches (only - and once the spaces are gone, they're gone, sorry). If you have a blue badge there will also be parking at the club, please show yours to the marshals at the junction of Copse Hill and Barham Road.

Once the club's carparks are full you will need to park on the public roads (marked green on the map). The later you arrive the longer your walk will be to the club. When walking you might find Google Maps helpful to navigate your way to the clubhouse (type in Wimbledon Rugby Club or postcode SW20 0ET).

There will be parent volunteers in hi-viz to help make the parking as stress-free as possible. Please listen to any parking instructions you are given - and respect that everyone marshalling the parking are parent volunteers. Wimbledon RFC is situated in the middle of a residential area with some of the roads being private roads so if you are asked not to park somewhere, please listen. The same goes with cones, if you see a street with cones on, don't park there.

Anyone blocking access to homes or restricting ambulance access will be reported to the police.

If you need directions to Wimbledon Rugby Football Club click here

The programme for Sunday can be downloaded here .

We are using Tournify for fixtures. You can see the website for fixtures here
Note: inevitably there will be some changes to the fixtures all the way up to festival morning, so please check back regularly.

The Tournify app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store here or from the Google Play Store here . In the Tournify app search for Wimbledon Minis Rugby Festival.

Here's the pitch plan - note: a larger copy of the pitch plan is in the programme, downloadable above.

A key message from Sophie Castle, Wimbledon's child safeguarding officer

Remember, everyone (parents, coaches and players alike) must observe the RFU rules and spirit of play...namely

1. Support positively and applaud good play (even if it's not your team!)
2. Respect officials and opposition players
3. Remember that children are playing to have fun
4. Behave as good role models on the touchline
5. Congratulate the opposition and make their supporters welcome.

Bad behaviour by players will not be tolerated
The London Society of Rugby Football Union Referees has announced a zero-tolerance approach to backchat and appealing from players during matches. This approach is wholly endorsed by Wimbledon RFC and all players should expect to be warned and then penalised for instances of arm waiving and backchat/challenging refereeing decisions during games.

Bad behaviour by parents will not be tolerated. I like this quote from Brian Moore
[Children] do not always recognise a general expression of disappointment and believe it is directed at them. Head shaking, rolling of the eyes, looking away, kicking the ground – any of these can discourage children, and exhortations like “come on” and “sort it out” are as practically useless from the touchline as they are on the pitch. Full article is here

Hope you enjoy the festival and remember TREDS

Teamwork • Respect • Enjoyment • Discipline • Sportsmanship

Well done to everyone who made the Summer BBQ such a resounding success. There will be other events coming, but please do stay for a bit longer every Sunday as it really adds a lot to the club. Congrats also to the U18 Girls who put on a magnificent display of running rugby and won a 48-43 thriller against Farnham.

The mighty u7s are on parking duty and cakes are courtesy of the u8s.

ADULT RUGBY UPDATE: The Men's 1st XV travelled to Bournemouth last Saturday and were resounding 49-12 winners. They play London Welsh at home on Saturday (3pm kick off) with the U12s providing the ball boys and girls. The Women's XV season got underway with a strong 36-10 home win over Streatham & Croydon.

Pitch plan for Sunday

So we've made it week 3 of the season and all age groups are reporting excellent numbers and new joiners. Superb! Please do encourage your kids to bring their friends - everyone is welcome to come and give us a try whether you've played rugby before or fancy giving it a go for the first time.

The u18 girls welcome Farnham for the first home youth game of the season.

The big BBQ is this Sunday!
We're thrilled to report that the BBQ has sold over 300 tickets for this Sunday. We look forward to seeing all the minis and youth parents after training for fabulous food and drinks. Huge thanks to Steven Novak, u7 coach who also runs six pubs in South West London (including Hannah in Battersea and The Earlsfield on Garrett Lane) for organising this. Check out his pubs here: https://www.rhapsodygroup.co.uk/

KIT: There should be new club kit to buy at the clubhouse. Thanks to the u12s for running kit sales.

GUM SHIELDS (MOUTH GUARDS): We have a few boil-up mouth guards for sale at the clubhouse. These are really only for use if you've forgotten one.

Proper, club-branded Opro ones are now available for sale online...

Order your Wimbledon RFC gum shield here on the Opro website. Use the discount code WimbledonRFC10 to receive 10% off.

Pitch plan for Sunday

It was great to see full pitches last Sunday - welcome back one and all. It was especially good to see so many new faces. We are a very friendly club so do encourage your kids to bring their mates.

Don't forget to book your BBQ tickets for next Sunday. Please book them by Wednesday.

SUMMER BBQ: The Wimbledon RFC Mini & Youth Summer BBQ is being held on Sunday 18th September at 12 noon (straight after training). It will feature restaurant-quality food and promises to be a great family day out. Buy tickets on Eventbrite with this link.

PARKING & CAKES: The U9s are on parking duties and the girls-only squads are supplying cakes.

KIT: There should be new club kit to buy at the clubhouse. Thanks to the u12s for running kit sales.

GUM SHIELDS (MOUTH GUARDS): We have a few boil-up mouth guards for sale at the clubhouse. These are really only for use if you've forgotten one.

Club-branded Opro ones are now available for sale.

Order your Wimbledon RFC gum shield here on the Opro website. Use the discount code WimbledonRFC10 to receive 10% off.

Pitch plan for Sunday