The club
Wests Junior Rugby Club is one of the premier winter sports clubs for children in the Wellington region. We provide junior rugby teams for children from ages 3 to 13 throughout the western suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand.
The catchment area includes the suburbs of Brooklyn, Te Aro, Kelburn, CBD, Thorndon, Tinakori, Karori, Northland, Wilton, Wadestown, Chartwell, Crofton Downs, Ngaio, Khandallah, Onslow and Broadmeadows.
Wests are based at Ian Galloway Park in Wilton, and feature 4 full-size grounds and 4 junior grounds, club rooms and gymnasium with an indoor artificial surface for wet weather training.
Wests provides different grades of rugby depending on age and weight.
Nursery Grade (Rugby Skills and Fun) 3-4 Year Olds
Starting in 2012, Wests introduced a Nursery Grade for 3 and 4 year olds. The sessions are held on a Sunday morning in the Wests indoor training facility. The focus of the sessions are on basic skills, ball handling and lots of fun. The sessions are about 45 minutes each and will be held throughout the standard junior rugby season.
Rippa Rugby (Non-Tackle) 5-6 Year Olds
Players who are below the age of 7 on 1st January of the playing year, will be allocated to non-tackle grades where they will play "Rippa Rugby". The games are 7 aside and each team usually contains 8-9 players. We do our best to keep players within their school groupings. The games are 20 minutes per half.
The emphasis is on developing basic skills and participating. Skills such as running with the ball, passing in either direction, running straight, catching the ball are the focus at these ages. Tackling is limited to ripping a flag from the ball carriers belt. Once "ripped" the tackled player must pass the ball to a team mate. There are player of the day awards that are shared around the team through the season.
Tackle Rugby 7-13 Year Olds
Players who are 7 or above on 1st January of the playing year, are placed in teams that play tackle grade. By the time the players hit this grade they seem to be more than ready for tackle rugby. The players are also allocated into positions in these grades. Full training is provided to the boys on how to tackle and get tackled. Each coach must sit a associate referee's course and first aid course for these grades.
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