Aberfeldy Rugby have launched their new youth section. The idea lead by Development officer Aidan Kerr, began with a taster session on May 22nd and is now running weekly on a Sunday.
There are three different sessions offered dependant on the age of the young people attending, these are Primary 1,2 and 3, Primary 4,5,6 and 7 and then Secondary 1 to 6.
Aidan Kerr explains what he hopes the creation of a youth section at Aberfeldy RFC will do for Rugby across the area, “Long term, I think in the area there’s a lot of really talented young rugby players in the area, across the full of Highland Perthshire. And it’s just about these players who’ve never really had the opportunity to play rugby. If they are given that and given some good coaching and they are engaged in it, there’s no reason why, you know the sky’s the limit for them, really, that they can go on and do whatever they want.”
The weekly Sunday sessions start at 10am with Primary 1,2 and 3, with Primary 4,5,6 and 7 starting at 11 and finally Secondary 1 to 6 from 12 and the information can be found on their Facebook page.
The club aren’t just focused on teaching rugby as Aidan explains they want to make sure that the young people who attend can enjoy a welcoming environment with a strong social aspect, “at that age that there at, that the kids who come from certain schools will look hang around with the other young people from their school and it’s, in my sessions and stuff I always try and mix them up, get them all interacting with each other.
“I think that’s really important for them because I mean when they grow up, they are all going to be in the same kind of classroom at secondary school and stuff and it’s good for them just now to be getting to interact with each other.”
“I think that the social aspect of it is obviously really, really crucial to not just, performing well in rugby, but you know you don’t want to be going down in like I don’t want to go, it’s going to be miserable, I don’t have any friends, but if everyone is really well coming in, really like friendly to each other then it becomes such a good environment for kids to be in.”