Age Grade Chairman’s Welcome
First, a huge thank you to trusting your child’s development in, and enjoyment of the wonderful game of rugby to the volunteers here at Wilmslow RUFC! Check out information for each age group on the age group pages, but most Sundays during the season you will find the club OPEN from 8:30 with a breakfast service as rugby starts around 9:30 onwards, bar opens at 10:30, and you'll see some great mini and junior rugby action across all our pitches.
As a club we aim to offer an inclusive, welcoming and, most importantly, a fun environment for children to develop their love of the game.
In the following pages you can read more about how the Club approaches its age grade rugby offer, and visit the team website pages for further information & to meet the volunteers
You will see some information about how we organise, the England Rugby context in which we operate, and the extent to which we rely on volunteers time each & every day.
We recently asked for member feedback on how can continue to improve. You’ll hear more from the Club Chairman on the overall survey, after which the following may be updated.
Enjoy the season
Gavin McManus, Age Grade Chair
WHAT IS AGE GRADE RUGBY?
Let’s start here; age grade rugby is the World Rugby term for all rugby provision in school and club for players age 6-18 years of age.
England Rugby breaks this down further into
Mini Rugby: U6 through to and including U11
Junior Rugby: U12 through to and including U16
Colts Rugby: U17 (junior) and U18 (senior) Colts
In WRUFC, the age grade section is overseen by the AGE GRADE CHAIR, who is part of the Club’s Committee. The AG Chair Role, and all of the Committee Roles, are voluntary, and usually held for 3-4 years.
Gavin McManus is the current AGC, in role since 2024. An enthusiastic player in his younger years, Gavin is both a keen parent as well as committed volunteer to the club.
How does the Club decide what happens in each age group?
The AG Chair’s role is to make sure the club offers an age grade programme, in the context of the broader club’s offer, that is safe, compliant, inclusive and fun.
S/he is works with the Head Coach of each age group, also a voluntary role, and with the Coaches as a collective, to:
- Make club facilities available for coaching, training and matches, including pitches, catering & bar
- Provide club-supported training and learning opportunities to meet the required player welfare expectations in coaching, first aid provision, safeguarding
- Organise training equipment for the coaches both at start of / during the season
- With support from a Mini & Junior committee, run social events for the M&J section to encourage friendships to develop off of the rugby pitch
- With support from the Compliance Officer, guide volunteer Head Coaches when running national or overseas tours, and make sure that WRUFC’s offer remains compliant with the relevant regulations
- Brief Head Coaches each season, using the age grade playbook, on the club’s expectations for the age groups during the season
Once the children reach Colts age groups, the AGC works closely with the senior rugby team to establish a progression path into senior rugby, whether with Wilmslow, or at University / other clubs as the children age out of local club/education and into the adult rugby game.
Rugby at all ages, and in all settings, is a regulated sport. WRUFC is part of the Cheshire County Rugby Board who oversee rugby offering in the Cheshire County. CB is governed by England Rugby who, in turn, operate under World Rugby governance.
This framework means that we can take advantage of a lot of England & Cheshire resources (e.g. training programmes) and helps us keep players of all ages safe in their contact sport.
Progression through the age grades is visualised by England Ruby (below & here); you will see that the children acquire new skills, and the nature of the game changes as they move through the age grades. Underpinning each age grade is a set of age grade regulations that establish the rules of the game. E.g. pitch size, game time, ball size, whether players can be in mixed age groups. Each year, the AG Chair briefs the coaches on any changes, and makes sure that the Coaches are aware of the requirements as they progress through the age groups, usually with their child(ren).
Within the age grade framework, each age group Head Coach then decides how to optimise the opportunity for their age group.
There are some must-dos, including provision of first aiders, supervision ratios, minimum levels of coach qualification.
Then the remainder of the offer is influenced by the extent to which the Head Coach can bring onboard volunteers from their parent group.
The club funds training for Coaches & volunteers. In line with almost all age grade offerings throughout the country, there are no paid staff in the Age Grade set-up at any age group.
Each season, there is a pre-season briefing, and a mid-season briefing/reminder for new & established Age Group Head Coaches. You can see the briefing headlines here in the playbook 
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