HK7s weekend from 26th-28th March 2010 - important information

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Dear Minis Members

A huge weekend of rugby ahead of us as it is the HK7s weekend. If you do not have a team to support, apart from HK, then please cheer for Wales!! There will be no Minis training at King's Park this Sunday, due to the HK7s. However, there will be training as usual on Sunday 4th April, i.e. Easter Sunday.

The schedule for all minis games has been posted on the DeA Minis website at: www.deatigersrfc.com so please search out the information there. You can see the link on the right hand side of the Minis web page, HK7sFinalSchedule.xls.

Basically, U6, U7 and U8 age groups will play on Friday afternoon, while U9s and U10s will play on Saturday morning, and U11, U12, and U11/12 girls will play on Sunday morning. Gates of the stadium will open at least 15 minutes prior to the first scheduled games of the day. Therefore, I suggest that all parents and children meet up with their coaches at least 45 minutes prior to their match, so as to allow time for coaches to organise their teams. However, individual coaches for each age group should have already given out details about meeting times etc. As it is free seating at the stadium, it is well advised to arrive as soon as possible after gate opening to get seats in a good location and so as not to be disappointed!!

It is vital that all kids are wearing this season's DeA kit and they must have a mouthguard to play. As they will be playing on a grass pitch, I would suggest that studded boots are best, but training shoes for younger age groups may be OK. Anyone who wishes to enter the stadium must have a HK7s ticket for the allocated day, therefore please ensure you have bought a ticket already. In terms of tickets, DeA Tigers Minis have been allocated tickets by the HKRFU, which we have distributed among our members. It is vital that these do not end up in the hands of touts/scalpers or any other undesirables!! Please be responsible for your tickets and make sure that if you pass them on, that they go to genuine family, friends, or other members of the rugby community. DeA Tigers are responsible for ensuring that tickets are sold and used responsibly.

DeA Tigers Minis location - as in all years, Dea Tigers Minis tend to congregate in the northwest stand of the stadium, usually around rows 131-133, if memory serves. Basically, as you enter the stadium via the steps, bear to the right and walk around the corner into the northwest stand and you will see the seating block numbers on the wall. It would be great if our members got together in their yellow and black kit or polo shirts and showed a real DeA presence and club unity over the weekend. I hope to see you there!!

Field entry - all DeA Minis teams that will play at the HK7s will enter the field of play via the northwest stand tunnel, at the base of the escalator, i.e. enter the stadium and go right. Your individual team coaches may have already given out details about where teams should meet, so please make sure you are there on time, otherwise your child may miss the opportinity to play. It is suggested that teams need to be at the tunnel entrance at least 20 minutes before they are due to play, so they may need to meet up with their coaches 30 minutes prior to kick-off time! Only 2 coaches may enter the field with each team, and these persons will have been given a field pass. Parents will not be allowed on to the pitch area.

Sunday Marchpast - one of the highlights of the Mini rugby calendar is the Sunday marchpast. This year, the marchpast will start at 13.41. Therefore, we would like as many DeA Minis as possible to participate in this marchpast, but the kids must have a Sunday ticket to do this. We need to have a real DeA Minis presence on the field to show off our great club and there is always strength in numbers. I suggest that all minis, who wish to participate in this, should meet at the northwest stand area, behind sections 131-133 so that coaches can escort all kids to the tunnel area. All players mus be ready to enter the tunnel at least 20-30 minutes before the start of the marchpast, so please have them ready by 13.10. This year we will have 3 DeA Minis flag/banner carriers, i.e. Sam Down from U11s (leading Korea), Katherine Esser from U11/12 girls (leading USA) and Jake Smith (leading Argentina). These flag/carriers need to be ready to enter the tunnel by 13.00.

It is vital that, as this is a massive international event, our kids and coaches!! are all well behaved during the marchpast and during matches. Please make sure that all teams enter and leave the field in an orderly manner and that there is no misbehaviour on the field, such as swan dives under the posts!! I had several complaints from HKRFU last year when one of our players actually did this and it did not go down well with the Union. I would be grateful if you could please impress on your child(ren) the importance of this.

Main event schedule - after the minis and youth have finished playing, I hope that you can stay back and watch the seniors playing and cheer on Hong Kong and Wales!! I attach the schedule for your reference.

Touch tournament on Sunday 11th April - there will be a touch tournament on this day at King's Park. We have entered 2 x U10, 2 x U11 and 2 x U12 teams, in the U12 format competition, and 4 x coaches/parents' teams. This is a fun event and not taken too seriously, so if you have an interest in playing, please email Colin Durbridge on : cjd@pacific.net.hk or me on: welshwhites@gmail.com It is non-contact and we need men and women players! We have managed to reserve pitch 3 from 08.30-10.30 on that day for the U6-U9 age groups to train as usual, though I appreciate space will be tight.

Summer training course - even though DeA Minis will end their training/season on Sunday 25th April, there will still be a DeA summer training course, so please support this and enter your child for summer rugby. Details are shown in the attachment.

Finally, let's hope we have a wonderful HK7s. Parents, kids and coaches have been tremendous all season, so let's go out with a bang and have a fine showing of yellow and black over the course of the event. I wish all the DeA Minis well on the pitch. On behalf of the DeA Minis Committee, have a great weekend.

Go Tigers!!

Peter (DeA Minis Chair)