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Youth Rugby - which club

  • 01-01-2011 9:58pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 1,049 ✭✭✭


    My son, aged 7, wants to start rugby. I'm wondering if anyone has experience with their kids of the junior facilities with the clubs. I'm particularly interested in Bruff and Young Munster for geographical and family reasons.
    i'm interested in first hand experience please.


Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 2,698 ✭✭✭Risteard


    Crea wrote: »
    My son, aged 7, wants to start rugby. I'm wondering if anyone has experience with their kids of the junior facilities with the clubs. I'm particularly interested in Bruff and Young Munster for geographical and family reasons.
    i'm interested in first hand experience please.

    I'm not associated with either club but if you're in the area I'd recommend Bruff. They seem to have a very good structure throughout the club in general.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 8,048 ✭✭✭Amazotheamazing


    Both have great underage sections and are "real" clubs. Which one are most of his mates with?


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,049 ✭✭✭Crea


    His best buddy is in Bruff but so are a few of the lads in his class who would be mean kids - name callers etc.
    We'd have family ties with YM going back so that's the reason I had them in mind too.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 8,048 ✭✭✭Amazotheamazing


    Crea wrote: »
    His best buddy is in Bruff but so are a few of the lads in his class who would be mean kids - name callers etc.
    We'd have family ties with YM going back so that's the reason I had them in mind too.

    Hard call tbh, who does he want to play for?

    There will be just as many "mean" kids with Young Munster, hell, Munsters like them like that (joking, joking).

    I notice you want first hand experience, maybe ask on munsterfans.com, there's a clubs section there you could post on, a few of the Shannon and Old Crescent underage coaches post on there so they'd know about the set-ups of the various clubs.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,863 ✭✭✭seachto7


    I have heard good things about Bruff underage for years and years.
    Suppose it depends on himself.....
    What better way to get officially stuck into the name callers than at rugby...


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  • Registered Users Posts: 383 ✭✭cyberspi


    Was going to recommend Bruff as soon as I saw the thread title, great youths setup, but yes I am biased :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 14,015 ✭✭✭✭Mc Love


    Shannon as I know its a good set up and have been out there for a coaching setup.

    One tip if you do decide to drop your kid off, dont be like the majority of parents who think its a child minding service and never contribute to trips etc


  • Registered Users Posts: 23,531 ✭✭✭✭phog


    TBH, I think if you have family ties to YM then you should have the inside track there already. If it was my kid they'd be going where most of their friends are going.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,692 ✭✭✭thesimpsons


    and if you can stick around each week and maybe even help out with the coaching, you'll be helping the club and your son even better. Virtually all clubs across all sports also favour the kid of a coach on a team than the kid who turns up each and every week rain, hail or shine and just wants to train & play. I've seen it in host of different GAA clubs across both the hurling and camogie and also in 2 different rugby clubs. Its not the way sport is supposed to be at underage, but its what happens. Become a coach if you can at all. I've spent so many years giving kids lifts to matches, bag packing, collecting the cones on wet and wild days, joined the youth committees, etc and its so demoralising for kids when they can't get match time. Team sports are great for character building but they are also great for major disappointments for young kids and teens.


  • Registered Users Posts: 918 ✭✭✭Agent_99


    Would recommend UL Bohs, Both my lads go U13 and U8. well structured training especially for the younger chap to be honest they have a ball mostly playing games and running never have had any trouble. 10.30 training on Sunday Morning in Annacotty.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 8,048 ✭✭✭Amazotheamazing


    Agent_99 wrote: »
    Would recommend UL Bohs, Both my lads go U13 and U8. well structured training especially for the younger chap to be honest they have a ball mostly playing games and running never have had any trouble. 10.30 training on Sunday Morning in Annacotty.

    My nephew is with them and they are a great club, however, probably not geographically convenient to the OP, which is important.


  • Registered Users Posts: 11,097 ✭✭✭✭zuroph


    He's young enough that you could give him a spin at bruff, see how he gets on with the mean kids, and if it works out he'll be happy out and itll get sorted, and if not, you could move him on to young munsters? both have always had very good set ups, I know from many bruising encounters as a kid!!


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,484 ✭✭✭The Snipe


    Well its near-impossible not to get an unbiased opinion on the matter, where are you based if you don't mind me asking? If he joins YM then he will make all new friends (If hes not shy) and him and his friend will also have something to debate about, and could be interesting for them to play against eachother on pitch too. I have a few friends who help with the coaching out there, and it seems top class, never really seen anything from bruff though.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 8,048 ✭✭✭Amazotheamazing


    Bruff Steeped In Family Tradition
    6 January 2011, 1:00 pmBy Cliona Quaid
    Bruff' R.F.C.'s recent success in winning the ODM Financial Munster Senior Cup was a landmark not only for the club but for all emerging clubs around the Provinces.
    By: Matt O'Callaghan, Bruff RFC
    It raised many eyebrows mainly because Bruff were only promoted to senior ranks just seven years ago and had a huge hurdle to overcome in their first final facing the might of 37 time cup winners Garryowen FC. Less than 48 hours before lifting the grand old trophy of Munster rugby, the Bruff club celebrated the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the club.

    What has been achieved in the intervening decades is meteoric and phenomenal. Constant questions are being asked as to how a club based in rural heartland can produce a side that can compete shoulder to shoulder with the country’s very best.

    Good organisation, good facilities and an already legendary underage structure are reasons advanced to those who are seeking answers and seeking to emulate the Bruff model. But another ingredient very central to one of Irish rugby’s finest story is the sense of family that pervades the club. There are fewer sporting organisations where the membership is closer knit than at Kilballyowen Park.

    The club was founded all those years ago by two men that were eligible to play Under 20 rugby at the time, Willie Conway and Nicholas Cooke, and happily they were in Thomond Park wearing well deserved broad grins when the final whistle in this year’s Munster Senior Cup final was blown and mighty Garryowen had been conquered.

    Bruff nominated a match day squad of 22 to face Garryowen. Of that squad 19 had come through the club’s underage structure, many had been together since starting out at Under 8 level and have stayed together like one big family. Some of the squad would have tasted success at Community Games level, others at All-Ireland Under 16, Under 18 and Under 20 rugby before making the transition to adult rugby.

    That is not to say that others are not welcome as those who did not come through the club’s underage structure will quickly testify. Andrew Cashman arrived from Mallow three years ago, Tom’ O’Callaghan came from Mitchelstown two years ago while David Horan, younger brother of Munster and Ireland prop Marcus, joined the club on completion of his studies at St. Munchin’s College. All three quickly embraced the club’s ethos and are now an integral part of the Bruff rugby family. Another bonding factor for the Cup winning squad is that as many as 12 of the players had attended and played rugby at St. Munchin’s College.

    Head coach Eoin Cahill and assistant coach Peter Malone transferred to Shannon and Garryowen respectively at a time when Bruff were competing at junior level. Now the experience that they garnered in the years away is being put to very good use as they mastermind the club’s relentless progress up the rugby ladder. Alf Laffan saw service with U.C.C and Shannon while Brian Morrissey had a year at U.L./Bohemians before in typical Bruff tradition, both returned home.

    However one family more than any epitomise what Bruff is all about. Michael Cahill is one of the most popular rugby figures in the Province. His dedication to the underage game is without parallel and almost without exception, the current squad would have been under his tutelage and knowing and watchful eye at various times in their careers. Then of course there are his three sons and what a contribution they have made to the Bruff success story. All three played in the Cup final, the team’s head coach Eoin formed a very formidable centre partnership with his brother Brian. The latter is the team’s kicker and chipped in with 13 points in the final. The third brother Tony manned the pivotal outhalf berth and such were his exploits on the big day, he walked off with the Man of the Match accolade. That is not all the family’s involvement, the women folk are equally as immersed in the running of the club. Mother Lil and sisters Fiona and Breda are important members of the club’s Ladies Committee that provide all the in house catering for visiting teams to Kilballyowen Park.

    The Carroll family are another that is involved in different aspects of the club. The late Brendan Carroll was an outstanding player in the early years as well as serving as the club’s Treasurer. His four sons all play with the club, Michael and John (now like his father the club Treasurer) featured on the Cup final squad. Mother Lena combines the role of club Vice-President with that of being a leading member of the Ladies Club. Cousin John Shine has been a regular on the senior side since promotion.

    Gearoid Ryan is the squad’s longest serving player. A native of Sixmilebridge, he has bypassed all the Limerick clubs since he joined Bruff as a raw Under 10. He is the common denominator to the club’s string of successes over the last decade that has seen Bruff seamlessly rise from the bowels of junior ranks to Division 1B of the All-Ireland League.

    Peter Malone and his brothers John and Simon all played for the club at top level while father, Ger served a term as club President and is the club’s Munster Branch delegate.

    Present club captain, Cathal O’Regan has been inspirational in that role. He has led the club to promotion from Division Three, to a first Limerick Charity Cup success and now the big prize, the Munster Senior Cup.

    The Deady family from Bruree are among many other families that have made a huge contribution. Brendan a former Schools star with St. Munchin's College has starred at full back in the club's great triumphs in recent years. His brothers Stephen and Ronan also played with the club while father P.J. has been a constant presence behind the scenes.

    Another constant in the club for longer that would care to remember is Miceal Leahy. The Kilmallock man played with the club for many years before making the transition into management. He has managed the first team through a number of promotions and through the Charity Cup and now the Munster Cup successes.

    John Hayes, Ireland’s most capped forward is synonymous with the club. He commenced his illustrious playing career with Bruff before moving on to Shannon. He transferred his allegiance back when the Kilballyowen Park club attained senior status.

    The family ethos is central to the Bruff success story and it has helped see the club scale some dizzy heights. Bruff rugby club is now one of the focal points of south east Limerick. The club has enjoyed tremendous success since its foundation four decades ago. While the team has developed on the field, the development of the club off the field has kept pace. The club has three full pitches, two of which are floodlit, one to match standard. A large clubhouse with a warm and welcoming ambience is a central feature of Kilballyowen Park. The club has its own fitness area, six changing rooms, a medical room and a referee’s room. The latest addition to the facility is a newly developed nature walkway around the perimeter of the grounds which like all the other facilities is available to the public and the community.

    Bruff rugby club is a paragon of what can be achieved through foresight, careful planning and good organisation. The heartbeat of Munster rugby may be on the move from the urban sprawl to the rich rolling plains of rural Ireland.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,717 ✭✭✭LB6


    If you're considering YM for the geographical reasons, there's also Garryowen just up the road too. They have various under age training sessions and don't forget - they also have the all-weather pitch too! :D


  • Registered Users Posts: 14,015 ✭✭✭✭Mc Love


    LB6 wrote: »
    If you're considering YM for the geographical reasons, there's also Garryowen just up the road too. They have various under age training sessions and don't forget - they also have the all-weather pitch too! :D

    Forget about Garryowen - full of snobs :D


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,648 ✭✭✭mav79


    +1 for Bruff
    Great setup for youngsters, you can't go wrong with either though. Old Crescent and Garryowen have good setups too and that stereotype of snobbish behavior is rubbish maybe 15 years ago but not now.


  • Registered Users Posts: 14,015 ✭✭✭✭Mc Love


    mav79 wrote: »
    +1 for Bruff
    Great setup for youngsters, you can't go wrong with either though. Old Crescent and Garryowen have good setups too and that stereotype of snobbish behavior is rubbish maybe 15 years ago but not now.

    That stereotype is still there tbh


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,648 ✭✭✭mav79


    Only with the fans, 15 years ago it was the sons of rich families that played, now the club is made up of people from all area's of the city and all type's of families.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,713 ✭✭✭pappyodaniel


    Both clubs have top quality underage set-ups and would be considered 'family clubs'. You have narrowed down the search to 2 clubs which many regard to be 2 of the best. All you need to do now is weigh up the pros and cons. Personally I feel your son would find the introduction to playing rugby with a club where he has a few familiar faces to socialise with to be a bit easier. I remember my first few training sessions as a kid at U10 level and how nervous and shy I was at first, only for a few friendly faces I probably wouldn't have stayed long.


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