U14 ‘Just Play’ Festival held in Montrose

The festival was the second of its kind, after a successful pilot in Glenrothes, with the aim of assisting in the development of emerging youth teams who may have trouble with player numbers.

Teams also had the option to loan players to each other for specific games to ensure that playing rugby was the focus of the day.

The event ensured that over 80 budding young rugby players were able to take part and showcase their skills in short twenty-minute games that challenged their technical abilities and, most importantly, had fun.

The games are focused on following the national blueprint, which aims to ‘increase ball time in play’ which enables the young players to continuously react in a fast-paced environment.

Montrose Rugby Club Coach Coordinator and Organiser of ‘Just Play’, Caroline Campbell, was enthusiastic about the day, she said: “We really enjoyed hosting our first ‘Just Play’ Festival at Montrose. With a genuine focus on development, it was great to see how our young players improved throughout the day.

“The players were challenged mentally and physically and, most importantly, they all had fun. Thanks to all of the coaches for supporting this new approach.”

With the festival benefitting those involved, the hope is that more youth teams will be interested in the concept and will see the advantage of helping their players to expand their skill set in a festival style format in the future.