Tour Information: 2011 Minis Tours

Under8s Cleethorpes

11 players and their families made the trip up to Cleethorpes to spend their tour weekend at Thorpe Park Caravan Holiday Park. Several of the party arrived earlier enough to try out the swimming pool, which was to their satisfaction.  A few of us met up in the bar for a catch up and for the kids to let of some steam and empty the parents pockets in the arcade.

  Henry and Antony in the arcade.

On the Saturday, we all made our way over the Humber Bridge to “The Deep”, some of us took a bit of a detour due to incorrectly programmed sat navs, (what did we do before these were invented?).  The Deep was spectacular with some really interesting display and the children particularly enjoyed the 3D shark special.

Once back at the park, the majority of the party ended up in pool. The brave amongst us took on the “space bowl” water slide, which was ok until you dropped into the unheated water below, talk about take you breathe away.

We awoke on Sunday to find ourselves bathed in glorious sunshine; we travelled the short distance to Cleethorpes RUFC where we were to play both them and Grimsby RUFC. Introductions were made and we prompted began a joint coaching session involving all, this was led by one of the Cleethorpes coaches, with everyone else looking after a group of players made up from the 3 clubs. This was followed by some matches.

The 1^st match of the morning was Cleethorpes Vs Norwich. There was some excellent flowing rugby shown by both sides, but the Norwich side managed to edge into the lead by using some great linking play and getting the ball out wide, this resulted some spectacular runs along the touch line. Norwich had a couple of good runs outsmarting Cleethorpes defence and the final score was Cleethorpes 3 -Norwich 6.

The second match of the day was Cleethorpes under 7s v Grimsby under 8s. Cleethorpes showed some excellent support and defence and really held there own against Grimsby despite being a younger side. The score was Cleethorpes 4 v Grimsby 7.

Adam making a run for the line

The 3^rd and final match was Grimsby v Norwich. Norwich seemed to go off the boil a bit in the first half and I think the combination of the hot weather and late nights had taken its toll, as Norwich finished the first half in second place. But after a quick chat with the coaches at half time and some much needed water, the Norwich side came back with vengeance. Grimsby were no pushover but after a few turnovers due to a strong defence, Norwich managed to turn the game in their favour, eventually winning at the final whistle with a score of 7-10.

It  was great to see that the coaches and supporters from all 3 sides where encouraging the kids and applauding when either team scored, a sign of true sportsmanship.

We all made our way to the clubhouse, where we were fed and watered and even had a bit of a sing song. The Norwich players were awarded with their tour trophies, the player of the tour award (chosen by the Norwich Supporters) was awarded to Antony Ringwood and the sportsmanship award (chosen by the referee) was awarded to Emma Barnard.

Troy receiving a cleethorpes ball from their coach and one of their players on behalf of the team.

Antony and Emma being presented with their awards.

Henry showing off his tour trophy and certificate, which every player was presented with.

Sunday afternoon we met by the pool and the enjoyed a session in the waterwalkerz . After farewell drinks in the bar and a good nights sleep we all made our way back, pleased with a superb Norwich performance.

Jake and Luca in the Waterwalkerz 

WELL DONE GUYS.

Under 11s

Weather stayed dry giving excellent battling conditions as U11s boys with some of their parents fought with laser guns in Thetford Forest

Those of us who didnt fancy the challenge decided to do an educational tour of the East Harling Whisky distillery!

Afterwards we all headed for Ely and checked in at The Lamb Hotel

All 25 feasted at The Montaz Indian restaurant that evening then matched with Ely the following morning

Excellent weekend!