Ulster Rugby Annual Report 2016-17

RFC once again hosted this season’s festival that saw twenty teams from across the province and five teams from Leinster making the journey to the province, including five girls’ sides for the first time. The culmination of the Aviva National festival series was the National event at the Aviva Stadium on the 20th May. Ulster was well represented by four U10 boys’ sides and one U12 girls’ side. The clubs taking part were Armagh, Ballymena, Inishowen, Lisburn and Virginia. The two areas identified at the start of the season as a focus for mini rugby were the development of the U12 age group and the registration of all club mini rugby players. Sterling work by the Ulster Branch Development Staff ensured that both of these areas showed a significant improvement during the course of the year. Thanks to the sponsorship of Centra, every mini rugby club in the province has had the opportunity to play at the Kingspan Stadium during half time, focusing on the U12 age group. In addition the support of Maxol resulted in the running of festivals throughout the Ulster Region, focusing on the U7, U9 and U12 age groups. In total nine festivals were scheduled to take part through the course of the season. Overall it has been a successful season for mini rugby in Ulster and it is sincerely hoped that the increasing focus on the introduction of the girls’ game the province will see a further increase in playing numbers and participating clubs. AGE GRADE AND REPRESENTATIVE TEAMS ULSTER UNDER 20S Head Coach Kieran Campbell Assistant Coach: Willie Anderson Strength and Conditioning: David Drake Manager: Hugh McCaughey Physio: Dave Minion Doctor: Phil McClelland Resources Manager: Andy Weir Video Analysis: Bryan Young/Johnny Creighton Ulster’s Academy had an intensive summer training schedule, with great commitment from the players and coaches alike, leading into the interprovincial matches in September. Prior to the games against the two other Provinces (Connacht withdrew from this year’s round of games), Ulster had a training camp and played Aurillac in France. This proved a very worthwhile exercise with the young Ulstermen coming out on top in a tough encounter and beating a large and physical team from Aurillac, who are of course coached by former Ulster favourite Jeremy Davidson. It also gave the squad and coaches a chance to hone some of the summer preparation and test players and patterns in a testing competitive environment. The first Inter-pro was against Leinster. The first half was an evenly contested affair, with both sides playing

Following consultation with clubs it was decided to run the Youth Leagues under a regionalised structure for the 2016/17 season. This was in the hope that more players and volunteers would become involved. While it is accepted that the new arrangement was not universally popular and did not suit everyone, on balance it has been agreed to continue the structure for at least one more season. This season the Youth Committee has taken on responsibility for the management of the Youth Girls’ game. Work continues on engaging and fully integrating their representatives into the Youth Structures. Alignment of the rules and regulations is underway and while the Girls’ game is not without its challenges, it does present a huge opportunity for further growth. For next season it is hoped to run two leagues at U15 and one at U18. Use of the IRFU player registration system has improved, as clubs get more familiar with the process, with the result that there have been considerably fewer instances of teams being excluded from competitions for playing ineligible players. Whilst the Youth Committee’s main focus is on growing the game, it is also the vehicle for the dissemination of information to clubs such as law changes, safety updates and general rugby information. The dedicated work of the Youth Competition Committee, which oversees the running of all Youth league and cup games is much appreciated. The Y.C.C. is responsible for the organisation of the League Finals for all age grades, played at Mid-Ulster Sports Arena, Cookstown in April. The Girls U18 and U15 Cup finals, held at Mid-Ulster Sports Arena, were both won by Virginia, with the Youth Plate, Bowl and Shield finals taking place at MUSA in Cookstown. The season culminated with very successful Ulster Carpets Youth Cup Finals day at the Kingspan Stadium on Saturday 13th May where Portadown won the U14 Cup, Virginia was successful the U16 Cup and Armagh retained the U18 Cup in front of very enthusiastic supporters. The results of all Youth League and Cup competitions are recorded in appendices at the rear of the report. The Ulster Branch is extremely appreciative of the support of Ulster Carpets who continue to sponsor not only our Youth League and Cup Competitions but also the monthly awards to recognise the work and effort that clubs are putting into the Youth game. These awards are particularly appreciated as they recognise the tremendous contribution to Youth rugby of club volunteers, so vital to the future of our sport. Thanks also go to the Youth Committee, under the chairmanship of Paul Hart, for all its work and commitment throughout the year. MINI RUGBY Forty-five clubs provided mini rugby at the start of the season, ensuring that right through the province children were given the opportunity to participate within the sport. Numbers of participants at each club remained steady. As the change from the traditional national festival format proved successful it was decided at national level to retain the format for the incoming season. Ballyclare 22

IRFU ULSTER BRANCH ANNUAL REPORT & STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS 2016/17

22