City of Armagh Under 15’s finished of a marvellous season by winning the plate competition in Cookstown last Saturday. This was a team that only lost 3 matches all season, Monaghan in the league, against Coleraine in the semi-final playoffs and Banbridge in the cup.

In the league semi-final Armagh went down to a strong Coleraine side, but the local lads gained sweet revenge by hammering the same Coleraine side 28 points to 5 on Saturday!

 The signs did not look good when after 5 minutes Coleraine scored a try in the corner after Armagh’s defence failed to clear the danger. Armagh, however, bounced back  with a converted try of their own when Evin Crummie surged over the try line after some excellent back play.

Cormac Fox converted and then 5 minutes later extended Armagh’s lead with an excellent solo try . Armagh had been awarded
a penalty 40 metres out and Cormac took the decision to run it . He caught the Coleraine defence so flat footed Cormac stormed over under the posts for another converted try!

It was all Armagh at this time and it was no surprise that they extended their lead when Kyle Maguire lurking in the backline show great pace and commitment to waltz over for another converted try. Coleraine were not for giving up and their strong running centre needed 3 or 4 Armagh lads to tackle him.

Half-time saw the score Armagh 21 Coleraine 05.

After a good strong team talk from Armagh coach, Anton Finn, Armagh continued in similar vein in the second half and repelled Coleraine on every occasion. Their defence was solid and it never really looked as if it would be breached. It wasn’t easy as Coleraine through everything at Armagh.

The locals lads could have added to their score on a number of occasions but the final pass was surpisingly knocked on. Ten minutes from the end Neil McGuiness calmed all the Armagh supporters’ nerves when he broke through several tackles to score a fine individual try under the posts. Cormac as usual converted to leave the final score Armagh 28 Coleraine 5.

It would be wrong to single out any individual in this team as they all were stars not only in the final but throughout the year. They attended training without fail and even the likes of Sam and Jake Odour new to rugby this year, travelled form Aughnacloy twice a week. We should however spare a thought for Brendan Gribben who missed out on the final through injury.

The rugby club should also like to mention their thanks to the coach Anton and his wife Briege and the parents who regularly turned up to help out. Without their support this team would not have achieved what it did and these lads will have great memories of the 2012/2013 season.

City of Armagh’s Mini Rugby festival on Saturday 6th April was a roaring success. The organisers would like to thank the large amount of volunteers, sponsors Domino’s Pizza, McShane Packaging and Noel Conn Accountants, as the City club once again hosted the largest Mini Rugby Festival in Ireland. Spring sunshine donned the tranquil setting of the Palace Grounds as the City club brought together clubs from both Leinster and Ulster.  

More players than anticipated turned out, approximately 1,100 players taking part. Approximately 100 teams took to part with each team playing playing 5-7 games each depending on the amount of teams within their pools and age groups. Armagh fielded 2-3 teams in each age group providing their players with plenty of rugby cheered on by their many vocal supporters.

In association with sponsors Domino’s Pizza, McShane Packaging and Noel Conn Accountants, City of Armagh Rugby Club is once again hosting the largest Mini Rugby Festival in Ireland on 6th April 2013.

The festival is unique in that clubs from both Leinster Rugby and Ulster are taking part.

There are approximately 100 teams taking part which results in over 1,000 young players taking part in a fun, but yet competitive festival of rugby. The tranquil setting of the Palace Grounds will be jammed with play commencing from 10am – 4pm.

Local players and spectators are requested they use car parking in Scotch Street, Friary Road, or the Council grounds to allow room for visitors to use the Rugby Club car parking facilities.

Following discussions at General Committee, the Club is undertaking a new initiative to recruit new playing members specifically from across all communities in the Armagh City and District area.

The background to the initiative is that we need to strengthen the playing base in our club for the next 3 – 5 years. Players naturally retire over time and we need to ensure that we are doing our best to make sure a new crop of players will be there to step in and take their place. This applies at all team levels, not just First Fifteen.

The Club therefore has agreed to launch a recruitment campaign with three primary targets:

1) Youth players

2) Girls

3) Adults over 18s

Specifically we are targeting boys and girls from non-rugby playing schools from all sections of the community.

Our mini and youth sections currently have players regularly attending from an incredible 47 local schools. We need to maintain this and expand it further.

Shirley Ann Donaldson is currently working on reviving the ladies/girls section within the Club.

We therefore have a focus to recruit girls 12 – 18 years of age for both tag and contact rugby.

Training for U18 girls is on Monday night from 7.00pm – 8.15pm and our objective is to develop teams at U15 and U18 level.

For adult over 18 players, we want to target guys who stopped playing rugby after leaving school and to encourage them to take the game up again at a social level.

Our primary target however are those guys with no experience of rugby at all and specifically from the non-traditional rugby community who want to try their hand at rugby. The profile of rugby has never been higher given the positive media coverage of Ulster Rugby and Ireland.

Thirdly, we have a large number of immigrant workers in the Armagh area from countries such as Poland, Lithuania etc and these tend to be young males in the age group ideal for playing rugby. They are interested in keeping fit and may be encouraged to try rugby as a team sport.

How are we going to do all this?

Mark Riddell is our Club Community Rugby Officer and he will be playing a key role. His mobile number is 07795 445302.

Our strategy is to arrange ‘beginner’ sessions for those people with no experience of rugby at all. Youth players will be directed to Wednesday night training applicable to their age group and the appropriate youth coaching staff will accommodate new recruits accordingly.

Similarly, girls will be directed to the Monday night training sessions and any enquiries can be co-ordinated by Shirley-Ann.

Any adult players who make contact will be advised by Mark, when the beginner sessions will be taking place.

After a few weeks it would be hoped that some players would be ready to play for the Fourth Fifteen and they would integrate into regular training for players at that level.

PROMOTIONAL STRAGEGY

So how are we going to publicise our message?

Already we have designed and printed a large number of posters with the simple message ‘Play Rugby”. See below:

We will also be placing the posters in shops, cafes, pubs, gyms etc, not only in Armagh, but in the surrounding towns and villages such as Newtownhamilton, Keady, Middletown, Markethill, Caledon, Blackwatertown, and Moy, etc.

We will also be producing versions in the Polish, Lithuanian and Portuguese languages for shops and venues serving the immigrant community.

Can you help place posters in your local shop?

Do you know a teacher in a school who would put up a poster?

Contact Ian McCall for posters, telephone 07967 097128.

In addition, the Club has also broken new ground in Ulster Rugby by using billboard advertising to promote their recruitment campaign.

We will be advertising on two billboards in November and December, firstly on the Killylea Road in Armagh, and secondly on the Loughgall Road in the city. The locations have been carefully selected to reach the communities we are trying to target.

Below is the poster design:

The third element of our strategy is the Internet and social media.

Our club website (www.armaghrfc.com) and Facebook page (facebook.com/city.of.armagh.rugby.club), as well as our Twitter page (twitter.com/armaghrugbyclub), will play important roles in spreading the word on what we are trying to do.

We will plan as much activity and updates as possible to keep the campaign to the fore. Facebook members and our Twitter followers will be able to share our poster designs and information about our campaign to their friends and networks. For those on Linkedin, use this also as a tool to promote the Club’s message.

Finally, Public Relations.

We will be endeavouring to maximise the PR opportunities of our campaign at various levels.

Firstly our PRO, Ken Redpath, will be liaising with both our two local newspapers for editorial coverage.

We will be looking for the Ulster Gazette to carry an interview with Mark Riddell, our Rugby Development Officer. Mark will discuss his role with local schools but importantly, also to reach out to adult players, particularly from the communities we are looking to target.

We have already taken PR photographs with Tommy Bowe with Club officials for a press release to local media.

In addition to local press, we will be looking for PR coverage with Intouch Rugby and Emerald Rugby magazine.

Lastly, we will be looking for PR assistance from Ulster Rugby at Branch level. In addition to coverage on their website, we will also be looking for visits from high profile Ulster Rugby players to local schools and possible events at the Club.

Summary

This new recruitment venture is a first for the Club and it needs the help of all our members to make it a success. Word of mouth marketing is the best form of advertising. Now that you know what the Club is trying to do, do what you can to help. Spread the word, put up posters and offer any assistance you can.

Success is measured by results. More players at every age will strengthen the club and lay solid foundations for the future. Captains and team managers will have more players to call upon for matches. Can we aim for a Fifth adult team in the next few years?

Lets make City of Armagh Rugby Club, the top Club in Ulster!

Introductory group P1 & P2 – please note P1 group train 10-11am.
P3 - 1st July 2005 30th June 2006 (U7)
P4 - 1st July 2004 30th June 2005 (U8) 
P5 - 1st July 2003 to 30th June 2004 (U9) 
P6 - 1st July 2002 to 30th June 2003 (U10) 
P7 - 1st July 2001 to 30th June 2002 (U11) 

Please be aware that all players must complete City of Armagh Rugby Club registration forms.

Forms will be available on the Registration Evening and on Saturday mornings, any player who completed the IRFU registration in full last season will not have to do so again this year. Annual fees are £50.00 for the season, or just over £1.55 per day.

Fees for those who wish to pay weekly are £3.00 per week. City of Armagh Rugby Club apologies for the increase in fees, however these are entirely due to increased insurance and affiliation costs which are outside our control.

For Mini Fixtures please click this link: Mini Fixtures 2012-2013

Mini Registration - PDF File	Mini Registration - Word File

• Help You Get Fit


• Make Sure You Have Fun


• Teach You Contact and/or Non-Contact Skills


• Observe Best Practise in Their Training Methods

Come along and join the team!

Contact Shirley-Anne on 07754603868 for further details.