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Under 8's 2007-8NEWS
UNDER 8'S AWARDS
Sunday 11th May 2008
 The awards went to the following players:
Top try scorer - Cobie Chapman for his consistent performances over the season contributing greatly to the team.
Most Improved player - Barnaby Ollerhead who has only started rugby this year but has shown grit and determination in all the games he has played and produced outstanding performances week in week out for the team.
Coaches Award - James Vine who is a player that has hardly missed a week this season and who tries 100% in any team he is playing in. Has this season become an excellent player with superb speed and agility.
Players Player - Sam Smith voted by all the other players as the person they most want in their team. Has come to the fore in training this season showing great commitment in tackling and attacking running rugby.
 Thank you to all the coaches and parents who helped out over the season.
A big thank you to Claire for all her assistance with addinistration matters and thanks top all the boys - you are a pleasure to coach.
Simon
LADS AND DADS DAY
Sunday 4th May 2008
The plan for the day was for the Boys and Dads to have a gentle game of touch rugby to mark the end of the season.
SOME PEOPLE JUST TAKE THINGS TOO FAR!!!!!!
 "Tony, the ball went ages ago!"
 Glyn showing Jack how not to do it
 A little bit of "Off the Ball Stuff"
 The Boys did actually get the ball the odd time
 What's worse than one competetive dad? - Two
 Good tackle by Thomas and George
 More competetive Dad syndrome
 Tony showing the Boys how its done
 Thomas Murray showing Tony how it actually should be done!
 Under all that flesh there is a rugby ball
 Dave and Russell coming in to add some more weight
 It came out in the end with a little persuasion
 The end of the game - No injuries (except the one Tony sustained doing the limbo on the obstacle course) and a bunch of very happy players and tired dads.
Thanks to all for your efforts and see you next season
Simon
Olney Under 8's at Northampton Old Scouts
Olney Under 8's took two squads of players to the Northampton Old Scouts Don White Festival.
A very enjoyable day was had by all at this very good tournament.
The matches ran to time and the weather was excellent.
 The outstanding performers on the day were Joshua Day and Olly Vine for the Kangaroos and Francis Allen scoring 4 tries in one game and Bertie E-C who had the game on his life enabling the Olney Badgers to get through to the Semi-Final.
Thanks to all the boys for their efforts and to Steve who is a little greyer than he was before!!
Olney Under 8's runners-up in the Bedfordshire Cup
The under 8's excellent season continued with the narrowest of defeats in the final of the Bedfordshire Cup. The final score was 7 - 8 with Dunstablians winning in the final moments of the game.
 The team made up of: Cobie Chapman, Barnaby Ollerhead, Thomas Murray, Felix Iles, Dom Blore-Rimmer, James Vine, Tommy Warn and Sam Smith played superbly but just failed to retain the cup.
Olney Under 8's runners-up in the Northampton Alliance Mini Rugby Tournament
On the 2nd March 2008 the Olney Under 8's won all six group games to reach the final of the Alliance tournament held at Northampton Casuals RFC.
They narrowly lost to Towcester A in the final
Thank you to all the boys for their great efforts and application throughout the day.
The team was
Cobie Chapman, Barnaby Ollerhead, Thomas Murray, Felix Iles, Dom Blore-Rimmer, Charlie Swallow, Tommy Warn, Sam Smith, George Christian, Tom Smith
Player of the team went Felix Iles
The Olney Tigers also played at the tournament
The team was made up of Alexander Brand, Thomas Christian, Joshua Day, Oli Davidson, James Vine, Jack Dodd, Izaac Soul, Patrick O'Roirdan, Harry Skinner, Lewis Silva-Jones, Oliver Vine, Thomas Parry.
The highlight of the day were wins against Bletchley and Brackley and a draw against Buckingham in the last three games of the tournament.
Player of the team went to James Vine
Olney Under 8's runners-up in the Bedford Mini Rugby Tournament
 Above are the squad that came runners-up in the Bedford Mini Rugby Tournament on the 7th October 2007, receiving their medals from players of the Bedford Blues.
The team narrowly lost out to a very strong Tring team having won all their group games and a semi final very convincingly. Well done to all the players!
Amendments to fixtures
From the 1st January 2008 it is the coaches intension to split the squad for away fixtures so that two teams travel away and two teams remain at Olney for training. Please keep an eye on your emails for notification of who has been chosen for away games.
Match Days and Training
We aim to start training or matches at 10.30am sharp. To give the players time to sort out their kit and for the coaches to pick teams please try to have the players pitch side for 10.15am at the latest.
The coaches strongly recommend that all players wear a gum shield during training and matches for safety. Even the cheaper gum shields available offer some protection to teeth when fitted correctly.
If a player is not available to play on a Sunday and we have a home or away fixture please email Simon to let him know. This helps us with both selection and organising catering for after a match.
If you have any questions or queries please don't hesitate to email Simon on schristian@talktalk.net
The Coaching Team
Below are the very experienced coaching team for the under 8's. Between us we have a varied/chequered rugby history but all of us enjoy the game and hope to pass our enthusiasm on to the players in the group.
BULLETIN BOARD
Membership for 2007/8
Please note that unfortunately due to limitations of space Olney RFC Under 8's cannot receive any new players at the moment. If you are interested in bringing a new player along please contact Coach Simon Christian on schristian@talktalk.net as further into the season, if some players drop out, there may be the opportunity for additional players to join and so please feel free to contact him. Team selection
As was the case last year the under 8's squad will be playing in a variety of home and away fixtures and tournaments this season.
For most tournaments we will be fielding two teams (10 or 11 per team) and so clearly with 37 players registered players some people will feel that they have miss out.
For a couple of tournaments we will focus on fielding our very strongest teams as we need to go out and defend a number of cups that the ORFC Under 8's won last year and to sustain the excellent reputation that the Under 7's established last season.
In typical home or away matches against other teams we will field broadly mixed ability teams. We will not be fielding a '1st team' in these games except in exceptional situations where the opposition has only selected their best players to travel away, which is the practice of certain clubs that we play.
Please bear in mind that we are seeking to develop all the players skills for the future and often it does not serve the weaker players well, in our view, to play with some of the more experienced players as they tend to never get the ball.
If during the season you have any issues regard how we pick teams and if you think your child is being left out, please don't hesitate to speak to me in person, as it is possible that an oversight has occured. I would like to recommend that you do not make your comments or pass on any concerns by email. Often innocuous comments at the time a message is written can be misconstrued as dissatisfaction with the entire coaching teams efforts, which can, during a long season, be dispiriting for us who give all our time for free.
Many thanks. Simon
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