London Welsh Minis Festival 2009
Sunday 8th November saw the twenty-eighth mini rugby festival hosted by London Welsh. This year’s event was sponsored by premium commercial cleaning company Group Clean and attended by clubs from Salisbury, Wasps, Old Reedonians, Llanishen and Chipping Norton.
The day commenced at 11:02 after the traditional Remembrance Sunday silence to remember servicemen who have given their lives in conflicts around the world. Even the younger children realised the significance of this special moment as they stood shoulder to shoulder in their various club colours.
Seven hundred boys and girls competed in the U7 – U12 competitions at both A and B level and ultimately for their club for the overall ‘Dragon Trophy’. The teams from Llanishen proved to be very resilient as many had awoken at 5:30am to make the long drive up the M4 from Cardiff.
Rugby parents whispered excitedly to their children about London Welsh and its contribution to world rugby as our chairman John Taylor walked around the ground enjoying the spectacle of hundreds of muddy and excited children competing and extending their friendships to other clubs and players.
The new hospitality facilities allowed us to feed every young player inside and generated considerable positive feedback from parents.
London Welsh 1st XV provided two star players to award prizes to the winners and runners-up. Errie Classens and Tom Brown were fantastic ambassadors for London Welsh and great role models for these young mini players.
The club amassing the greatest points overall to win the Dragon Trophy on Sunday was Salisbury RFC who we hope will come and defend their title in 2010. London Welsh sides at U7, U8 and U10 were runners-up in their respective groups which is encouraging for the future of Mini and Midi Rugby at ODP.
Representatives of the New Zealand Maoris were onsite all day with everyone enjoying seeing our friends from the other side of the world dressed in traditional Maori attire even though the weather was cold.
Volunteer parents from all age groups contributed to running of the festival with fantastic support from the Old Deer Park Partnership and our sponsors Group Clean. All can look back on another successful event and look forward to the 2010 festival in November next year.
Results
| |
Winners |
Runners Up |
| Under 7A |
Old Reedonians |
London Welsh |
| Under 7B |
Old Reedonians |
London Welsh |
| Under 8A |
Salisbury |
London Welsh |
| Under 8B |
Llanishen |
Salisbury |
| Under 9A |
Llanishen |
Salisbury |
| Under 9B |
Salisbury |
Wasps |
| Under 10A |
Llanishen |
London Welsh |
| Under 10B |
Wasps |
London Welsh |
| Under 11 |
Llanishen |
Wasps |
| Under 12 |
Salisbury |
Chipping Norton |
|
High Profile Festival Visitors
The LWRFC Minis Festival has for many years proved an irresistable draw for the world's most famous rugby fans. Click here for a video of one such visitor from Pontypridd via Las Vegas & Hollywood.
Photos
Photos from this event, and previous festivals were taken by DE Photos.To view or purchase photos, click on the logo below:
