St Mary's College RFC Yearbook 2020-21

Mary’s have been at the forefront of best
practice in returning to rugby in the safest
possible way. We are very grateful to David.
Junior, Youth and Mini rugby and we can
count on the support of all of these in
advancing the cause of our Minis.
We reached out for volunteers to act as
Covid Safety Officers for each team and had
a massive response. David organised training
for each of these as well as for our invaluable
Head Coaches and everyone responded in
the spirit and the letter of the new
guidelines. We launched the ClubZap App
(with valued support from John Bainbridge)
and our parents embraced it as a key safety
enabler.
We started back on Sunday 13 th September
after 26 weeks without rugby and we have
not looked back since! We launched our
Under 6 team with record numbers getting a
magnificent introduction to rugby by Head
Coach Joe Shine and his outstanding group
of coaches. We are pleased to report that our
parents have embraced the new restrictions
with good grace and good humour and we
have approx. 400 mini players in the club
every Sunday morning with some of the best
Autumn weather we have experienced
thrown in for good measure!
Mary’s is a truly unique rugby environment
where those who are new to the game drop
their kids off alongside legends of Leinster,
Ireland, Lions and world rugby. The club
fields teams at all levels from AIL through to
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We want to acknowledge Club President, the
great Vinnie Cunningham, Honorary
Secretary (& Mini Coach!) Colin Smyth, our
Chairman and all the Executive who have
worked so hard for Mini Rugby – this year
more than ever.
We want to thank Marie Hammond for her
guidance, encouragement and tireless efforts
in support of our Minis. Thanks also to Mary’s
Child Welfare Officer, Pearl Healy, who
ensures the highest standards of child
welfare in Mini Rugby and also to the
Director of Rugby (and Mini Coach!) Alan
Shirley.
To our Mini Rugby Team Managers, Coaches
and Covid Officers as well as our numerous
volunteers; a big thank you for keeping the
show running so well in this year of years.
Finally, a big thanks to all our parents and
guardians for their continued loyalty and
support of St Mary’s College RFC Mini Rugby.
We have maybe all had a reminder of its
value and importance in the 2020/21 season.
Paddy Lennon & Shane Keown
Directors of Mini Rugby