Hi all.... 1st post, but after reading this forum for a while I thought I may have some value to add by providing a couple of recent anecdotes that, to me at least, clearly show why junior rugby is declining in popularity and will forever struggle to obtain a foothold in the growth corridors of Sydney.
My eldest boy plays in the U14's. Last year, they stepped out of Saturday rugby and into the Sunday 'A's' competition. For the 1st half of the season, they got flogged. The step up in class was huge and they really struggled. So what did they do? They trained harder. They benefited from the Two Blues rep program (which is massively under-resourced by comparison to other districts) and they never gave up.... they finished the season as runner up to a northern suburbs side that had kids travelling from well further west than where we are and was simply too good.... sour grapes? No way. We trained hard over the off season, went and recruited some talented kids that had never played rugby before and built off of that team.
The results speak for themselves.... trouble is, the competition is so heavily skewed around a handful of teams that the teams in the bottom half of the competition don't seem to want to play us..... so the boys have had to endure a number of last minute forfeits - which when you are travelling as far as we do epitomises not only how rugby has lost its way, but how society in general has lost its way in terms of common courtesy.... but I digress... the most recent forfeit was a debacle that is at the heart of what I'd like to share.
Our boys turned up to play Wahroonga a fortnight ago. Last time they played we beat them by 50 points and, by the end of the game, it was 13 v 15 and had evened out. On arriving at the ground they let us know they only had 13 players (despite signing on 15. Two of which, were supposedly being 'rested' to play for the SJRU team) and asked if we would play 13 a side. We agreed. The president of the SJRU just happened to be at the game, I'm not sure of his involvement in the club, or the reason for his presence, but he stepped in, advising that we had to provide a couple of players and play 15 a side - or we would risk forfeit in line with the rules, which wasn't an issue for us, but was where things got interesting...
The coach of the Wahroonga side wanted to 'pick' which of our players we 'shared'.... not surprisingly he 'picked' our number 8, who is an excellent footballer and another junior representative player, also very accomplished. Like most clubs, we have a long-standing tradition of first seeking volunteers - we think it allows some boys the opportunity to display sportsmanship and, sure enough, 2 of our boys volunteered - one was our starting halfback and the other a forward who regularly starts off the bench. After some 'carry on' we got on with the game.
What happened next was disgusting. In short, one of our blokes missed some tackles and the opposing coach embarrassed him in front of the crowd, abused him for incompetence and pulled him off the field. The resulting furore resulted in the abandonment of the game by the referee. The game is listed on Buddha as being 'played'.... despite parents FROM BOTH SIDES ruining the game for the kids. All involved should be ashamed of themselves. I am sure the coach of the Wahroonga side would be ashamed of the way he treated our young 'volunteer'... to his credit, he apologised to our player prior to departing the ground... but would this encourage you to continue to play if you were that kid? Or to travel all that way, if you were that parent?
The whole situation highlights a few points for me:
1. How can the president of the SJRU oversee such a shambolic incident? Was he unaware that Wahroonga had signed on two players who had no intention to play? Two players that just happened to be in the SJRU U14 side? Why is this ok?.... I don't buy in to the whole northern zone, western zone conspiracy rubbish... I just think it was poor form and epitomises what is wrong with the SJRU set up and why people vote with their feet. It's clear that the rules are not applied evenly and there are too many rules, which lead to too many exceptions, which leads to too many arguments and people simply giving up.... or all of the conspiracy theories.
2. Why couldn't the other team extend some common courtesy and let us know they wouldn't have numbers? This isn't an issue focussed solely at the coach / manager - I'm sure it extends to parents who are too damn rude to let them know they can't make it. It is possibly the most damaging advert for the players we have introduced to the game that come from a league background - we can't even put a game on, yet you can drive halfway across Sydney... oh, and we are resting a couple of our rep players too.
3. Where are our kids supposed to go to get a game if they are that dominant in an 'A' competition that some teams won't play them? They are big lads. My son played against them up until under 13s - so I know what it was like on the other side of the fence.... but it isn't the kids fault they are big. They play with a great spirit and good sportsmanship... I've watched the biggest amongst them pass up opportunities to put shots on much smaller kids and virtually nurse them to the ground... I've watched the same lad nearly bought to tears when he's accidentally injured an opposing player.... and don't have an answer. Do they need to play up an age group?.... then what happens to the smaller players in the team? Do they have to play elsewhere, despite, in some cases, having played with their mates from under 6's?
Final anecdote occurred this year out at Dural where a delightfully outspoken 'lady', apparently of some rugby 'pedigree', proceeded to announce to anyone within earshot that 'there's no way they're 14.... their birth certificates are all falsified'... she proceeded to tell anyone that would listen (and I found it sad that she had plenty of head-nodding listeners) that our boys birthdays all matched their christenings and not their births... blah, blah, blah, the typically polynesian birth certificate conspiracy. Wouldn't have a bar of it when we tried to show her the boys Aussie birth certificates and / or passports.... to try and quell the situation. She just kept on, and on. To me, it's blatant and rampant racism. My understanding is that because of her family ties to rugby people tolerate it.... what a shame. Rugby is a game for everyone. That is it's beauty. What was inspiring about that game, was that the Dural side, who were significantly smaller in physical stature, gave it to our boys physically and gave them the toughest hit out they've had all year.... thank god they weren't listening to the rubbish on the sideline.... I think we need to remember it's parents that bring kids to games... if you ostracise them based on race, they'll simply go somewhere else, where they feel comfortable.
.
