Welcome to the Minis
Every Sunday morning in the season more than 850 Minis and Juniors; who stretch as far as the eye can see; turn out with their parents and coaches. Many trophies have been won at county level at all age groups, which also includes a successful colts side. OAJRFC is proud to offer rugby for boys and girls aged 3 to 17.
Our Under 6, Under 7 and Under 8 children play tag rugby, a fast, non-contact form of rugby, in accordance with the RFU Kids First Rugby pathway.
Contact Rugby begins at Under 9 level, and along with the Under 10s, Under 11s and Under 12s.
New players are welcome in most age groups, please see the details for joining Old Albanian JRFC.
A map and directions to the Woollams Playing Fields is available on this website, and please read the parking guidelines for visiting the Mini and Junior club on Sunday mornings.
Core Values of Rugby
OAJRFC are proud to uphold the core values of Rugby. We ask all players, coaches and spectators to familiarise themselves with the Code of Rugby and it’s Core Values
OAJRFC have a code of conduct and a spectators code of conduct, which we ask everyone to familiarise themselves with.
OA Mini & Junior Officers 2017-2018
Junior Chairman | Ian Tomlins | 07867 971585 | [email protected] |
Joint Mini Chairman | Mike Fisher | 07799 345807 | [email protected] |
Joint Mini Chairman | Steve Pope | 07802 533111 | [email protected] |
Treasurer | David Powell | 07990 525418 | [email protected] |
Safeguarding Officer | Paul Doyle | 07747 872213 | [email protected] |
Membership Secretary | Laura Meakin | 07736 710212 | [email protected] |
Junior Coaching Coordinator | Steve Pope | 07802 533111 | [email protected] |
Mini Coaching Coordinator | Steve Pope | 07802 533111 | [email protected] |
Referee Coordinator | Peter Poulain | 07905 956893 | [email protected] |
Junior Fixture Secretary | Arrangements on age group by age group basis | ||
Mini Fixture Secretary | [email protected] | ||
Rep to County | Ian Tomlins | 07867 971585 | [email protected] |
Rep to Junior Girls | Craig Ihlenfeldt | 07943 274534 | [email protected] |
Shop Manager | Nicola Picariello | [email protected] |
Last modified on October 5, 2017 by Website Updater
OA Minis – Review of 2016-17
The OA mini section started and finished the 2016/17 season in excellent health from the youngest OA players in the Rugby Rats through to the under 12 age group preparing for the transition to the Youth section of the club. The under 7s through to the under 12s have quickly adapted to the new rules of play and age grade rugby philosophy introduced by the RFU in the prior season.
In the words of the RFU. 'The rules of play use a building block approach and aim to equip players and coaches with the skills they need as they build towards the XV-a-side game. They offer progression and challenge for players season by season and our game remains Player Centred and Development Driven. The principles of the rules are to;
- Put the child first
- Maintain rugby as a game for all shapes and sizes
- Increase enjoyment for all
- Increase involvement for all
- Retain players in the game.
So hopefully the reward at OAs will be developing our players of the future. To do this we have to invest in our coaches, all of whom are volunteers, so to that end we are delighted to say that we have increased the coaches training budget for the year ahead.

Looking back to last year we were blessed with much better weather throughout the season losing only one or two Sunday morning to adverse conditions. If you haven't been to Woollams on a Sunday morning its well worth a visit to watch the c500 players in the mini section alone learning how to play our wonderful game.
Our playing schedule was once again expertly put together to ensure the right balance of training and game time. For the second year we held our own developing player festival at Woollams early in October which was a resounding success and now looks to be a permanent fixture in the diary and we are really pleased to be able to increase the number of teams attending this season. Our travels away took us to familiar grounds for fixtures and festivals including Bedford, Bishops Stortford and Hertford to name a few, and further afield to clubs such as Rosslyn Park, Ealing and London Irish where the players are really tested against stiff competition.
We benefit from a great partner relationship with Saracens and for another year players enjoyed the big match experience at Allianz at great value whether playing in the pre match festivals and half time games or providing the guard of honour at the start of the game.
The season ending county festivals were as ever brilliantly organised by various clubs around the county, and at OAs we pride ourselves on every player having the opportunity to attend. The season then came to its final climax with the annual tour, which this time saw a return to the delights of Camber Sands. Its a testament to the strength at OAs that we had multiple teams across the mini age groups attend the club tour and older mini age groups also managing trips to Jersey and Italy.
Our club only survives by a hardy group giving up a lot of their time so thanks must go to all those volunteers that coach, provide first aid, run the shop and organise the fixtures that makes OA mini rugby such a success. Some of our volunteer stalwarts have stood down this year (they know who they are) so a special thanks goes to them and the many, many hours they have given.
We have no doubt that the 2017/18 season will deliver much like the last. The measure of that will be friends, new and old playing together, learning new skills on the development pathway and above all having FUN.
Mike and Steve
Joint Mini Chairmen
OA Minis Reports & News 2017-18
Minis Fixtures 2017-18
Date | Event | Venue |
---|---|---|
3 Sept 2017 | Training | Woollams |
10 Sept 2017 | Training | Woollams |
17 Sept 2017 | Training | Woollams |
24 Sept 2017 | Training | Woollams |
1 October 2017 | Bedford Festival | |
8 October 2017 | Amersham & Chiltern Festival | |
15 October 2017 | Bishop's Stortford Festival | |
22 October 2017 | Beaconsfield Festival | |
29 October 2017 | OA Development Festival | Woollams |
5 November 2017 | Olney | Evens Home Odds Away |
12 November 2017 | Luton | Away |
19 November 2017 | Amersham & Chiltern Development Festival | |
26 November 2017 | Ampthill | U7/U8/U9 Away U10/U11/U12 Home |
3 December 2017 | Training | |
10 December 2017 | Tring | Evens Home Odds Away |
17 December 2017 | Training | |
24 December 2017 | Woollams Closed | |
31 December 2017 | Woollams Closed | |
7 January 2018 | Training | |
14 January 2018 | Training | |
21 January 2018 | Training | |
28 January 2018 | Bishop's Stortford | Evens Home Odds Away |
4 February 2018 | Harpenden | Evens Away Odds Home |
11 February 2018 | Ealing | |
25 February 2018 | Hertford | Evens Away Odds Home |
4 March 2018 | Beaconsfield Dev Festival | |
11 March 2018 | Training | |
18 March 2018 | Tring Festival | |
25 March 2018 | Saracens Festival of Rugby | |
Slough Festival | ||
Fiveway Fixture with Bishop's Stortford/ Tring/ Hertford/ Harpenden | TBC | |
1 April 2018 | EASTER SUNDAY | |
8 April 2018 | Training | |
15 April 2018 | ||
21 April 2018 | County Festivals | Please note - this is a Saturday |
22 April 2018 | County Festivals | |
29 April 2018 | Training | |
6 May 2018 | Tour |
Each Age Group also organises additional matches and festivals, please check the relevant Head Coach for details.
Last modified on September 22, 2017 by Website Updater