The Junior Yass Rams are starting their season with the opening of registrations this week, taking in an influx of interested players as they look forward to the year.
Fred Clark of the Club said, “It’s a very exciting year ahead. We have got a couple of new initiatives which are looking exciting for players and families. “We are including Tri-Tag which is a non-tackle tag game among our official teams for the first time, which is exciting because it is a real gateway for people who have never played tackle before and are looking for a fun activity to make friends and learn new skills.
“We have Tri Tag for the 5-8 year olds which includes skills and drills and games after school on Thursdays at Victoria Park and that progresses through to the Under 10s, Under 13s and Under 16s for tackle teams. The Under 10s and Under 12s are mixed girls and boys and the Under 16s is boys and those three tackle teams playing the ACT juniors competition which is traditional.”
The juniors begin training on February 27. “The Under 16s boys have already started training with the adults – the Rams and the Ewes – on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“We are recruiting players in the Under 16s to join a really strong group, so please come along to training or get in touch and we are also inviting people to sign up for the Under 10s and Under 12s girls and boys mixed tackle.
“Exciting news includes this year’s raffle raising money for subsidised player registration fees. There’s a list of exciting prizes, but the big prize is four tickets to the British and Irish Lions game against ACT Brumbies on July 9. Four tickets to the Lions game is a big prize because the game sold out four months ago. GIO Stadium will be full and although not a big stadium, 26,000 people will pack in to see the Lions, which is only once every 12 years. It is a very big event and 12 years ago the Brumbies beat the Lions in a very exciting game.
“We have books of raffle tickets and they are $10 each and we have books of 20, so $200 of raffle tickets and if you sell the raffle book you have got your rego covered. Sell some raffle tickets and pay for your rego.”
Fred said they have already sold about $3,000 worth of tickets, so a lot of players are finding that their rego is already paid for. “We are putting as much local business sponsorship money into supporting rego for families as we can. Most families know if they need a bit of help or not, but don’t be shy, people are always welcome to ask and we will do our best to support the families. Please get in touch if you want a book of raffle tickets. It’s pretty easy to sell the tickets because they sell themselves with such a great prize. For youngsters it’s their first time seeing the British and Irish Lions and if you are younger than 20 you would probably have no memory of them.
“The standard way of registering is you download the Rugby Xplorer app from the App Store and you create a pro-file option which everybody does and you register yourself with Yass Junior Rugby 15s and initially there is an interim step which is training only and you pay $15 to get started and that’s for the international insurance policy to cover you on the training field for the two months of preseason and then you do the next step which is the season start in early May and you get registered 100% for the rest of it.
“Registration is approximately $200 and that is why we are selling these raffle tickets to cover it.
“We welcome all new non tackle and tackle players. Don’t be shy to get involved because you don’t have to jump straight into a tackle team, you can do the Tri Tag for months and months or just stay with Tri Tag and skills and drills and be with a great group of kids or you can go in a tackle team or you can change between the two when it suits you.”
-Jack Murray
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