Continued decline in Sydney Junior Rugby

[Prodigy]

From an Eastwood perspective i can understand what happened with Hillview and Epping!

Bob, the merger with Hillview to form Central Eastwood is not something that happened legally within our constitution. In fact, Sydney Juniors should never have de registered the Rams as a junior club.

The juniors committee had put in front of the club board a three year plan for a merger with Hillview at the end of 2014. This was discussed by the club but never given the green light. We were going to follow its progress in year one and see where it went.

Long story short, the committee decided to tell all the junior parents that the club was folding without the permission of the club. Yes, they all left but the club board at the time weren't able to make a difference for whatever reasons.

We are working like crazy to get our systems in place to have a real crack at building from the bottom in 2017, however good fortune has struck us with a 17/18s team approaching us to play.

It looks at the moment like we have about 17 easy to go and would like to get 8-10 more.

Allegedly there is an Eastwood Junior Rugby presidents meeting tonight, which we were conveniently not invited to.

 

[Ozzie Bob]

Mate I'm so confused! So the rams got pushed into the merger which may have been against your constitution but you did have at least one team and then your committee members walked away?


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[Prodigy]

Mate I'm so confused! So the rams got pushed into the merger which may have been against your constitution but you did have at least one team and then your committee members walked away?


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Nah, mate. The merger was already in place without the Board's approval. I wasn't a Board member at the time. I was sympathetic to the plight of those on the juniors committee and feel like they need more support, however I feel like it wasn't handled the right way.

We are going to rebuild the junior club as best we can, however, after looking like we would have no participation in this year's competition, it looks very positive for us having a 17/18s team this year.

Does anyone know where I can find details of what other clubs are running teams in which competitions?

 

[Dingasden]

Nah, mate. The merger was already in place without the Board's approval. I wasn't a Board member at the time. I was sympathetic to the plight of those on the juniors committee and feel like they need more support, however I feel like it wasn't handled the right way.

We are going to rebuild the junior club as best we can, however, after looking like we would have no participation in this year's competition, it looks very positive for us having a 17/18s team this year.

Does anyone know where I can find details of what other clubs are running teams in which competitions?

Contact Kerry Brady at Sydney Juniors. 02 9323 3401. There are about 12-13 opens teams registered to play on Sunday's.

 

[Druid]

Nah, mate. The merger was already in place without the Board's approval. I wasn't a Board member at the time. I was sympathetic to the plight of those on the juniors committee and feel like they need more support, however I feel like it wasn't handled the right way.

We are going to rebuild the junior club as best we can, however, after looking like we would have no participation in this year's competition, it looks very positive for us having a 17/18s team this year.

Does anyone know where I can find details of what other clubs are running teams in which competitions?

Teams from Round 1 for the Opens. Reasonable comp and a bye that you guys could simply take up.

OPENS Dural
OPENS Vikings
OPENS Gordon South
OPENS Hawkesbury
OPENS Blue Mountains
OPENS Northern Barbarians
OPENS Newport Breakers
OPENS Sylvania
BOWRAL Bowral
OPENS Gordon North
OPENS Wests Juniors
OPENS Forest Green
Opens Hunters Hill/Mosman

 

[Druid]

Hi folks,

It's really interesting that you mention the North West as it appears to me that these areas are likely the only ones growing. Participation at Norwest and Blacktown is increasing year on year and both clubs seem to be doing very well to bring new players in at all ages.

The Western Zone U17s just won the JGC and there's lots of talented kids running around outside the schools system sticking with the game.

It will be interesting to see how the comps fare this year. One of the hardest parts of keeping kids and their parents engaged is the availability of teams in the more traditional rugby heartlands in the older years - the competition drops off largely due to the impact of school rugby and it's hard to keep the kids and their parents engaged when they face repeated forfeits and deferrals etc.

Thomo,

There is patchy growth at best, some clubs have grown other are in decilne, overall it probably evens itself out. Penrith are probably in a similar boat I would imagine with some clubs growing and otehr stagnating or declining.

Norwest & Dural have grown strongly over the past few years and are well run clubs with hard working committees.

Blacktown - Has had good growth in number of junior teams, although their mini's, I believe have dropped from 3 teams to 2 teams this year.

Liverpool/Dundas - appear to have formed a permenant merger, but can still only manage 1 mini team in each age group and 1 junior team. Liverpool hit hard by the move to Sunday rugby.

Renegades - only started a few years ago but after building to 3 minis teams last year, have slipped back to just 1 * Under 6 team this year.

Hills - After peaking 2 years ago is on the decline, team numbers have been in decline for the past 2 years.

Hillview/Epping - Documented above.

Beecroft - Dropping in numbers for a number of years now but still a relatively strong club.

 

[Thomo77]

Thomo,

There is patchy growth at best, some clubs have grown other are in decilne, overall it probably evens itself out. Penrith are probably in a similar boat I would imagine with some clubs growing and otehr stagnating or declining.

Norwest & Dural have grown strongly over the past few years and are well run clubs with hard working committees.

Blacktown - Has had good growth in number of junior teams, although their mini's, I believe have dropped from 3 teams to 2 teams this year.

Liverpool/Dundas - appear to have formed a permenant merger, but can still only manage 1 mini team in each age group and 1 junior team. Liverpool hit hard by the move to Sunday rugby.

Renegades - only started a few years ago but after building to 3 minis teams last year, have slipped back to just 1 * Under 6 team this year.

Hills - After peaking 2 years ago is on the decline, team numbers have been in decline for the past 2 years.

Hillview/Epping - Documented above.

Beecroft - Dropping in numbers for a number of years now but still a relatively strong club.

Spot on Druid. Can only talk to Blacktown and Norwest as I've got kids playing at both. Where the participation numbers are up are in the older grades where we are seeing lots of kids playing both codes. Big growth in numbers in the 12s, 13s, 14s and 16s. 15s is a lost cause in the district I think.

Minis seems cyclical.. For Blacktown in particular we seem to pick a lot of kids up at U10s and up when they shift to Sundays.... It could be miles better, but there's definitely some hope was the point I was trying to make.

 

[Quick Hands]

Teams from Round 1 for the Opens. Reasonable comp and a bye that you guys could simply take up.

OPENS Dural
OPENS Vikings
OPENS Gordon South
OPENS Hawkesbury
OPENS Blue Mountains
OPENS Northern Barbarians
OPENS Newport Breakers
OPENS Sylvania
BOWRAL Bowral
OPENS Gordon North
OPENS Wests Juniors
OPENS Forest Green
Opens Hunters Hill/Mosman

It seems that Epping have indeed joined the Opens division effective Round 3 1/5/16.

Good luck the the boys, hope they enjoy their rugby experience.

 

[Prodigy]

It seems that Epping have indeed joined the Opens division effective Round 3 1/5/16.

Good luck the the boys, hope they enjoy their rugby experience.

Thanks QH, we have had to work bloody hard and bloody quickly to make it happen. Had some people at the club's end drag their feet so to speak.

 

[Jujah]

I understand the decisions made last night around the 16s comp should further ensure decline in Sydney Junior Rugby.

If the mail is to be believed, at least two teams set to forfeit this weekend and one ready to fold on back of decision.

Blacktown might not get their next game for some weeks.

Any other feedback from last nights meeting? Would love to hear the clubs read on the 'outcome'.

 

[Ball in hand]

I understand the decisions made last night around the 16s comp should further ensure decline in Sydney Junior Rugby.

If the mail is to be believed, at least two teams set to forfeit this weekend and one ready to fold on back of decision.

Blacktown might not get their next game for some weeks.

Any other feedback from last nights meeting? Would love to hear the clubs read on the 'outcome'.

 

[Ball in hand]

Is there anywhere I can find the minutes of last nights Sydney Juniors meeting. I've heard there was an amalgamation of grades in the 14 s with B grade teams moved to As, C grade unchanged and D and E combined. An A grade team went to 15B and a couple of the super teams remained in A If this is the case then can Sydney Juniors advise how we keep boys in the game when they start to get flogged by teams they don't have the skill or physical capability to match?

 

[loiterer]

Is there anywhere I can find the minutes of last nights Sydney Juniors meeting. I've heard there was an amalgamation of grades in the 14 s with B grade teams moved to As, C grade unchanged and D and E combined. An A grade team went to 15B and a couple of the super teams remained in A If this is the case then can Sydney Juniors advise how we keep boys in the game when they start to get flogged by teams they don't have the skill or physical capability to match?

The 14A competition had 8 teams, 3 that were in A last year, a team that reemerged with a number of district players and 4 teams from last year's B comp. The teams from last years B comp had requested to moved down because they had some players in their teams that were not capable of playing A grade. This would have left 4 teams in the A comp, which didn't seem sustainable to those teams. This was resolved with the largest, strongest team moving to 15B. The 2 lowest teams in B grade were moved to C, and the rest were moved into A. It seems pretty hard to ensure that all teams are evenly matched, though other sports have the same problem.

 

[Westie]

It's a bloody dog's breakfast all round. so bloody sick to death of this sport. I've spent years volunteering in junior rugby in western Sydney, trying to encourage and inspire kids to work hard, push themselves and strive to chase their rugby dreams. This sport doesn't bloody care about these kids. League is winning, not because it's better but because rugby simply doesn't give a shit about kids from Western Sydney unless they can get into the right school.

 

[Quick Hands]

Sydney wide competitions don't suit the younger age groups. What the concept also encourages is the formation of super teams - as it's the only way to compete. In the 12s, there are now 6 teams left in A grade and one of them shouldn't be there (not mine thankfully). No one else can compete physically with these teams - even as 12 year olds. I shudder to think what will happen next year with the private school exodus. The idea of current B or C teams having to play the current A teams in 2 or 3 years time when the physical size and stength of the boys will be even more dramatic will be enough to drive some kids out of the game.

Even last year in the 11s, most of the opposition backlines were bigger than our forwards.

Like most rugby people, I can handle losing, provided that the games are reasonably competitive and the size difference between the players doesn't make the experience unsafe.

 

[JuanBarn]

My boy is in the 13's this year and is involved in the whole Epping/Hillview/Central Eastwood dramas. He still doesn't get to play for CE either (except if he's asked to play up) as we only had I think 5 or 6 boys register, so they have put a combined Northern Barbarians (old Beecroft/Cherrybrook) side together. Actually we have two teams D grade and what looks like to be an A grade team. (Surprising after Hillview/Epping not winning a game in B grade last year and Beecroft playing C grade I think). Last week we only had 15 boys in each team with injuries and other commitments. Will make it hard moving up to A grade, do you pilfer boys from the Ds to be reserves and leave the other team struggling? Also what is the go with www.myrugby or the sydney juniors website, are they ever going to go live so the average parent can see results again? Aren't the SJRU paying the my rugby people for their "extensive experience in enterprise level application system design and development with a ‘rusted on’ passion for the game of rugby." Surely for something that was meant to be live in Dec/January there could be some info provided about what exactly is happening with it, as part of our registration fees must have gone into paying for this upgrade.

 

[Joe King]

Not sure where to put this or if it's been said before, but is it worth having a competition where players have to be under certain weight? Might encourage the smaller kids (and their parents) to give it a fair go.

 

[loiterer]

Not sure where to put this or if it's been said before, but is it worth having a competition where players have to be under certain weight? Might encourage the smaller kids (and their parents) to give it a fair go.

It may be but what is the weight? It might be better for the bigger players as they have to hone their skills more when playing against kids of similar size.

 

[wamberal]

Not sure where to put this or if it's been said before, but is it worth having a competition where players have to be under certain weight? Might encourage the smaller kids (and their parents) to give it a fair go.

Then you come up against the problem of having age differences: arguably a year or two of age can make a bigger difference than a few kgs.


Smaller, but tougher and more experienced.

 

[WTF?]

My boy is in the 13's this year and is involved in the whole Epping/Hillview/Central Eastwood dramas......Actually we have two teams D grade and what looks like to be an A grade team....... Last week we only had 15 boys in each team with injuries and other commitments. Will make it hard moving up to A grade, do you pilfer boys from the Ds to be reserves and leave the other team struggling?[/COLOR][/SIZE]

I think you guys will do OK in the A grade looking at your 2016 results. You are right though, 15 players is just not enough for an A grade team. You really need 20 - 23 as you know that it is a much more physical game at that level against Blue Mountains and Canterbury. Good luck this weekend!