Under 10s Festival A Huge Success
With over 550 U10s involved, the Falcons Community Foundation were proud to host another incredibly successful match day festival prior to the game against Harlequins last Sunday.
Held at nearby Bullocksteads as well as on the main pitch at Kingston Park Stadium an additional 100 coaches were drafted in to oversee activity during the game.
With teams attending from across the North East, Cumbria and the Borders, Flash the Falcon was on hand to keep players entertained between games whilst Falcons players Dan Temm, Scott Wilson, Glenn Young and Will Witty were in attendance to inspire the youngsters and offer autographs.
Speaking after the game, Catriona of Durham City RFC said: “Players, coaches, parents and supporters have all said what a great day and a fab opportunity it was for the players.
“This is the first festival our age group have been a part of at the Falcons and we’ll definitely be joining in next year; from what I saw, the matches played on our two pitches were all played in the spirit of mini-rugby and the for the players having the opportunity to parade the pitch and play at half-time was amazing.”
Meanwhile Martin of Egremont RFC said: “It was a long day for our players and supporters, combined with four hard games in the morning. However everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and the experience of playing against strong teams, the parade on the pitch and the Premiership game (and result!) were well worth the long round trip.”
The community feel continued throughout the day with Cockermouth RFC acting as the Falcons’ mascots for the day and Hawick RFC providing a guard of honour for the afternoon’s Aviva Premiership game.
Although all participants were involved in a pre-match parade around the Kingston Park Stadium pitch, half time saw Durham City, Percy Park, Morpeth and Kendall return to the field to play display games in front of the 6,549 strong crowd.
Overall the day was filled with great rugby and a fantastic attitude by everyone in attendance, including some loud and passionate support which almost certainly helped the Falcons towards their win!
A big thank you to all volunteers and referees, without whom the festival could never have taken place.
Thanks also to all of the teams that took part in the festival: Alnwick, Berwick, Billingham, Bishop Auckland, Blaydon, Carlisle, Cockermouth, Duns, Durham City, Egremont, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Hartlepool Rovers, Hawick, Houghton, Kendal, Keswick, Middlesbrough, Morpeth, Northern, Novos, Penrith, Percy Park, Ponteland, Ripon, Ryton, St Benedict’s, Stockton, Sunderland, Upper Eden and Westoe.
For more information on the Falcons Community Foundation and the work that they do, please click [here][1].
[1]: http://www.newcastlefalcons.co.uk/Pages/Community/Overview