Mini rugby tournament to become annual event

Joint mini-rugby convenor at the Co Down club, Stephen Wilson, said the aim of the event, which took place on Friday 4 May, was to build friendships with other clubs and to maximise participation and enjoyment for Primary 6 and 7 players. Teams from Lurgan, Armagh, Portadown, Carrick and BHSFP took part.

“I would just like to pay tribute to all the clubs who took part, as this had not been planned a long time in advance and yet they all got behind it, even though some of them had other games planned for the next day,” Stephen said.

“We got brilliant feedback from the other clubs, in particular they appreciated the fact that their players were not standing around waiting to play. They just arrived and got started, with all the games happening simultaneously.”

Every club got three games of 20 minutes, which ensured that every player got a run out.

“At this level it is all just about enjoyment and maximum participation for the children, rather than winning,” Stephen said. “It is the first time Dromore has organised anything like this in a while, but we were very pleased that many of the coaches said afterwards ‘see you next year’. So obviously we are now planning it as an annual event.

“We would also like to thank Henderson Food Service for supplying all the hot dogs and drinks for the kids,” he added.

* Dromore RFC’s outreach continues on 19 May with open invitation to a Family Fun Day from 1-5pm. Attractions will include bouncy castles, face painting and family oriented outdoors games. The finale will be the Heineken Cup Final, featuring Ulster vs Leinster, on the big screen at 5pm.