Important information for the coming weekend - please read with enthusiam!

A big weekend of Mini rugby lies ahead for us. Sunday 25^th April will be the last day of our regular Minis season.  Therefore, I need to pass on some important information. The new season will commence at King’s Park on Sunday 22 August, while our Tigerfest, i.e. the DeA Mini festival at King's Park, will be held on Sunday 7 November. However, that does not mean that your child will be deprived of rugby over the summer. Please read on!

Summer Rugby Course – this is an opportunity for your child to have 17 weeks of rugby over the summer for a mere HK$350, including shirt. This course is run by experienced coaches and is excellent value. It started at King’s Park on Tuesday this week, but your child can join at any stage. Please see attachment for details.

All Girls’ Festival – On Saturday 24^th April, DeA have entered U5/U6, U7/U8, U9/U10 and U11/U12 combined teams for an all girls’ festival, starting at 08.00 at King’s Park. If your daughter plays for DeA Minis then please bring her along for this festival, as we need all DeA girls to show and to represent the club. This is a really exciting festival for the girls. Please see attachment for details and schedule.

Asian 5 Nations - On Saturday 24^th April (16.00-18.00 at Hong Kong Football Club), the HK national team will play Korea . Entrance is free, so please come along and watch the many DeA players, inc. Rowan Varty,  Nigel Clarke etc. representing HK in this important competition. In effect, this tournament acts as the world cup rugby qualifiers for next year, to be held in New Zealand 2011. HK must finish in the top 2 in this tournament to stand a chance of qualification. As a warm up to the game at 16.00, there will be an U11 tournament from 13.00-14.30 at HKFC, where DeA U11s will do battle with 5 other clubs. Why not come along early and watch those games first over a beer or two? You can have a laugh at me refereeing, at no additional expense!

Sunday 25^th April – this is our end of season bash. This is the proposed order of events:

08.30-11.00 – U10s tournament on pitch 1, between DeA U10s and 5 other clubs.

08.30-10.30 – training and games, as organized by coaches on pitches 2 & 3 only

10.40-11.00 – U12 graduation ceremony. As our U12 boys and girls will move up to youth next season, DeA want to show our appreciation to them for honouring us with their presence over the years by presenting them with a commemorative shirt and rugby ball. It would be superb if all age groups could gather by the bouncy castle area, so that we may give them a resounding send-off!! Please bring your cameras along to take photos.

11.00-11.30 – DeA Minis AGM will be held in the Clubhouse. It is important that as many members as possible attend this event, so that the current committee can report back on the past season and we can elect new committee members for the coming year. If you want to take up a more formal role for DeA Minis, as Minis Chair, Treasurer, Secretary etc. then please send your nomination to Brenton at: brenton.judge@gmail.com 

11.30-13.00 – Buffet in front of clubhouse. This is a final request for all members to bring along a plate of food or snacks, so that we can end the season on a social note and everyone can have an enjoyable end of season party. Please, as usual, contribute something. The food will not be available until 11.30, so please attend the AGM first.

Tiger Ball – On the evening of Saturday 29^th May, DeA RFC will hold its annual Tiger Ball at Kowloon Cricket Club. This is when the DeA seniors, youth and minis get together as one club to have their end of season party. Tickets will be on sale this Sunday, so please bring enough money. Please support the club and come along. Please see Helen Adams or Roi Boyd for purchasing tickets!

OK, my apologies for the long email, but lots of interesting goings-on!! On a final note, may I thank all parents, coaches and committee members who have given their time so readily over the past season to make DeA Minis such a great success. The number of Minis registered this season is well over 400, so this is an increase of over 50% on last season. We had well over 120 U6s this year, so we certainly hope they will stay with us next season. That is a fantastic achievement. I hope DeA Minis can go from strength to strength over the coming season, but to do that we are heavily reliant on your unwavering support. Your time, devotion and loyalty to our wonderful club are very much appreciated.

See you all on Sunday.

Go Tigers!!

Peter (DeA Minis Chair)