NH Ditch Junior rep sides
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The Wellington Rugby Football Union will become the latest province to disband their under-13 representative teams. The move follows on from North Harbour, Canterbury, Auckland, Southland, Otago, South Canterbury, Taranaki and Ta$man, which have all done away with the youngest of their rep teams. The youngest rep team in all of these regions, including Wellington, will now be under-16. It is expected this will be the status quo for every provincial union eventually..
It will be interesting to see what's going to happen in other provinces. I know that Hawke's Bay has already planned U14 selection and training camps for mid-July, and they usually play at least 3 games each year (last year, two against Manawatu and one against Waikato). -
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@mikedogz said in NH Ditch Junior rep sides:
Rumour going around that this the last year for Waikato Under 13 rep teams.
at the risk of kicking this thread off again, I think I'm pretty ok with no rep rugby for under 13s. It's still primary school stuff, and seems to have little to no correlation to future success.
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@nzzp nitpicking...U13 is intermediate.
It looks like it will soon be rolled out nationwide anyway, and even for the unions that opt to keep it, they probably wont have anyone to play.
With no NH and article stating Auckland out, must put Roller Mills in doubt this year too?
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@taniwharugby said in NH Ditch Junior rep sides:
@nzzp nitpicking...U13 is intermediate.
ah, fair cop fella. Our local primary includes intermediate ... so I'm totally right from my point of view, and you're propagating hate speech
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@nzzp said in NH Ditch Junior rep sides:
@mikedogz said in NH Ditch Junior rep sides:
Rumour going around that this the last year for Waikato Under 13 rep teams.
at the risk of kicking this thread off again, I think I'm pretty ok with no rep rugby for under 13s. It's still primary school stuff, and seems to have little to no correlation to future success.
I hear ya but by fuck as a 12/13 year old, if you made a rep team it was the highlight of your life at that point. It was fucking great and exciting!
So ok, let's ditch that experience for the few so as not to upset every kid, and I certainly remember some talented kids from shit homes getting some hearty and worthwhile experiences and sense of worth from rep sports.
I know some of the theories, arguments and outcomes for ditching these teams but is there ever a time when too much progress is detrimental.
Can we just have sport and activities for the benefit of everyone at the time rather than ALWAYS having an end goal objective, which invariably results in something else being taken away from the actual participants?Agree no correlation for later "eliteness", but does there have to be? Reminds me of East Germany and Chinese Olympic ideals.
Damn the kids' fun! We're simply not getting gold medallists and the non rugby keen kids and their mothers are getting upset.
(Those were the days rant over)
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@Siam yeah but for us older guys the dream was the ABs, which is still true but rugby is pro and a legit career. Scouting etc is way more intense from an earlier age and if the current system is leading to lower numbers then I'm all for change.
The good ones will make it through and hopefully we'll snaffle some late bloomers who might have given up by 13/14. More active players carrying through to club level is a big goal too. -
This seems the best thread to post this in:
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@Stargazer seems positive to me. Heard a few things about it on RS this morning and they are really trying to highlight that it's about competing and participation, rather than focusing solely on one aspect or the other. More kids of all ages playing sport is a good thing imo, even if the rep/elite level stuff starts a bit later.
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@Stargazer I heard the interview. Apparently peak physical involvement for humans is ages 11-12 after which participation rates drop off a cliff.
Main reason given by kids for calling it quits by kids: coping with the expectations of adults especially around winning and performance.
I'm all in favour of competitive sport but its a sad indictment when kids are giving up sport in droves because parents and coaches drive the fun out of it when all the kids want to do is have fun and bond with their mates.
I never had enough talent to be burdened with expectation but I have seen and heard plenty of parents who relive their "glory days" (that probably never were) vicariously through their kids
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@dogmeat said in NH Ditch Junior rep sides:
@Stargazer I heard the interview. Apparently peak physical involvement for humans is ages 11-12 after which participation rates drop off a cliff.
Main reason given by kids for calling it quits by kids: coping with the expectations of adults especially around winning and performance.
I'm all in favour of competitive sport but its a sad indictment when kids are giving up sport in droves because parents and coaches drive the fun out of it when all the kids want to do is have fun and bond with their mates.
I never had enough talent to be burdened with expectation but I have seen and heard plenty of parents who relive their "glory days" (that probably never were) vicariously through their kids
it's a freaking hard road as a parent to balance that expectation. It's our job to push them to "be the best they can be" and to show that input gets output. But also to ensure they are having fun at all times, and like what they are doing, as the intangibles of team sport are numerous.
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It's all about praising the effort not the outcome, that is probably the key point on dealing with kids. Hard to do tho.
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my comments to my eldest are "don't be a downhill skier!"
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as some of you know, I coach an U14 rugby team, and have done for 9 seasons (well not always U14s) with probably 8 or 9 of the boys having been in the team I coach for 5 or more seasons.
This season has been by far the toughest my team has faced, with many of this team yet to go through thier growth spurt, and as such have had some severe beatings (no one got to a hundred, but got close a couple of times) and only had 2 wins and a draw
2 made the U14 rep team this week (interestingly this is twice the number who were selected form the team that won the comp) were 2 other boys form my team who probably would have made it, but were injured
anywho, my point is, despite the beatings, despite most of the not making rep sides, none of these boys have said they wont be back next year, about half will likely be able to remain in the U14 grade if they dont grow...however, despite these boys wanting to play, with no U15 grade up here (goes to U16) approx half of my team are likely to not have a team next year, not to mention they simply wont be big enough to move to U16.
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@dogmeat said in NH Ditch Junior rep sides:
@Stargazer I heard the interview. Apparently peak physical involvement for humans is ages 11-12 after which participation rates drop off a cliff.
Main reason given by kids for calling it quits by kids: coping with the expectations of adults especially around winning and performance.
I'm all in favour of competitive sport but its a sad indictment when kids are giving up sport in droves because parents and coaches drive the fun out of it when all the kids want to do is have fun and bond with their mates.
I never had enough talent to be burdened with expectation but I have seen and heard plenty of parents who relive their "glory days" (that probably never were) vicariously through their kids
I do like the comment when GOAT was a young lad and he was told he'd probably enjoy his sport more if he was fitter. Ball is in the kid's court then.
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Northern Region Rugby Council adopts Talent Identification Recommendations
The Northern Region Rugby Council (NRRC) confirmed today it would no longer undertake representative Provincial Union based initiatives below the Under 16 age group.
Over the past 12 months the NRRC has conducted three review meetings, independently facilitated to look closely at the initiatives it manages. The meetings focused on Under 13, Under 14-18 and the NRRC purpose.
The effect of this decision is from 2020 the Roller Mills Tournament (U13 weight restricted tournament) no longer take place in its current form, along with provincial based Under 14 & Under 15 competitions.
Chairman of Northern Region Rugby Council, Neil Alton said the recommendation tabled was adopted with close to unanimous support.
“It’s clear member Provincial Unions are keen to take a greater responsibility for retaining and developing its players in these age groups by providing opportunities for more players.
“The decision is backed by research showing early selection sends a negative message to young players who still have a number of years to reach their full physical and mental development potential. Rugby is a late specialisation sport”.“The Roller Mills Tournament in particular has a proud history and we’d like to acknowledge and thank the many volunteers who have worked tirelessly to deliver the tournament. It’s our aim to give even more players and coaches a great experience, delivered in a different format, and within their own provincial union and communities.”
Alton said two of the nine member provincial unions decided not to participate in Roller Mills in 2019 and many Provincial Unions have developed improved models which have better outcomes for players than the traditional representative team option.
The NRRC meeting also reviewed all other 2019 initiatives. These programmes provided excellent player and coach development and will go ahead in 2020 with some minor improvements. The female U16 competition model will be a multi-day tournament rather than a one-day tournament. This brings it in closer alignment with the male U16 programme.
The NRRC will hold its AGM in February 2020 to ratify budgets, programmes, and dates for the upcoming season.
NRRC Background
- Membership includes provincial unions from the Blues and Chiefs franchises, including Northland, North Harbour, Auckland, Counties Manukau, Thames Valley, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, King Country, Taranaki.
- The purpose of the NRRC is to organise Provincial Union Representative Rugby initiatives for Male and Female players
- NRRC programmes include:
o 15 aside - Female U16,18 & Male Development, Under 19,18,16
o 7 aside - Female U16,18, Senior & Male Senior
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Long-standing New Zealand rugby Roller Mills youth tournament canned - RUGBY HEARTLAND
A long-standing provincial youth rugby tournament has been scrapped.
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First part of a 2 part story
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Rugby may be different because top quality players can develop later on. Any pro rugby player is going to need to be hitting the weights relentlessly from 16 onwards. I'm not sure you need to do much with a 12 year old to turn them into a pro. They obviously need basic ball skills but general athleticism is hugely important.
I think football is a lot different if you want to make it.
