Celebration of a fantastic season for Stroud U12's

It was Presentation Day and the weather was kind to us. The sun was beating down which was good news for the BBQ profits and the bar takings. It was bad news for the parents who would have to play the Dads vs Lads game with the heat sapping their strength reserves quicker than Phil draining the Stowfords pump at the bar.

The coaches had just about recovered from their exertions on the Friday night vs the Kings Arms Barbarians. The red raw knees and elbows from the ground contact, and the salivating bunch of U12’s kids quickly determined that we would play a tag/touch version of Dads vs Lads and not full contact.

The game kicked off and the 20+ kids quickly took advantage of their numerical advantage, superior speed and weaving capability, inspired ball and kicking skills and overall better talent levels and ran in a few quick tries. The interpretation of where the touch vs the roll ball taking place was somewhat loose but the kids were still too fast for the geriatric defense to get back into position quick enough.

Half time arrived which gave a few more parents a chance to sneak off on the pretence they were playing for their other child’s parents game. Bar takings quickly shot up though so the coolness of the bar and the taste of cold beer was obviously more attractive than facing a Keyan/Liam shoulder charge or a Will/Dave shimmy move.

The 2nd half highlights consisted of Lucas taking over refereeing decisions and being somewhat generous with his interpretations of the laws of the game. The parents did well to ignore his threat of red and yellow cards and score some tries back themselves but just as we thought the game would end in a customary draw the kids scored another try to eeek out a well deserved victory. But after consulting the new for 2016 rule book that Lucas was working from we found in the small print the new law of “points per average player on the pitch”. This turned the game on its head and the 8 remaining parents scored better than the 20+ kids so victory this year goes to the Dads……

Players gathered to hear a summary of their season from the coaches and receive their certificates and medals. Coaches and key helpers also were luckily enough to receive gifts – thanks parents!

The winner of the Weymouth match reports was announced with Jonathon winning for his Shakespeare to Shaggy Dogs inspired reports, and Geoff also for his Stockbrokers to Singers influenced literacy masterpiece.

Then we went over to the group gathering for the main trophies. Coach Jo got a special mention and present for all his hard work in recent years as Club Chairman. Newcomer award went to winger Joe, Most Improved Player to Stoner, Players Player to Keyan, and Coaches Player to Hilly. But as the coaches were keen to remind people this was just a reflection on the great performance of all players throughout the season to make these players stand out a little bit more.

We all then filled up on hot dogs, burgers and ice creams washed down by soft drinks and alcohol. People then retired home to watch Tori’s Weymouth DVD – its very good and brings back great memories.

See you in August for pre-season training on Fridays or in June-July for any parents that fancy the Friday night touch rugby run out. Mark my words - Phil’s Team are nailed on winners for the ‘Most Improved Team’ again – just because our starting base is so low ;-)