Thursday night training sessions for the U10s are rarely calm affairs, but this week the chaos was turbocharged by extremely windy conditions. At times the tackle mats seemed to be launching themselves at the players just as enthusiastically as the players were launching themselves at the mats.

A joint U9 and U10 warm-up got things underway before the teams moved into some tackle drills using the rather unpredictable, want-away mats and tackle pads. It made for a lively session, but the players embraced the challenge and got stuck in.

The most exciting moment of the evening, however, was welcoming a new face to the squad. Dylan joined the team for the first time after taking a shine to rugby during some tag rugby sessions at School. The team immediately set about making him feel welcome and showing him what’s so special about the game.

In many ways, that welcoming spirit is one of the very best things about rugby. The values of Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship (TREDS) underpin the sport at every level. From the walls of the England dressing room at Twickenham all the way down to grassroots mini rugby, those values help make every player feel welcome and help turn a rugby club into a second family for anyone lucky enough to discover the game.

Hopefully Dylan will soon see and feel what has helped turn this current group of U10s into such a strong team—and hopefully he’ll become a valued part of it himself.

At the end of the session, Katherine gathered the team together to talk through the plans for Sunday’s visit of the Women’s World Cup Trophy and the fun activities planned around it.

She congratulated the players on a good training session and then faced the difficult task of choosing a Trainer of the Week. Unable to separate the players after such a positive session, Katherine handed the responsibility to Dylan, asking him to choose the player who had given him the warmest welcome. Dylan’s choice was Jenson.

One of the newer players in the team himself, Jenson knows better than most how daunting it can feel to join a new squad. He went out of his way to make Dylan feel comfortable and included throughout the session.

Well done Jenson — a perfect example of great TREDS in action.