Welcome to our Club .....

Another fine season for junior rugby at this club. Despite the weather at the turn of the year each age completed the majority of their fixtures and the pitches held up well. Our RFU Seal of Approval came to fruition at the turn of the year when we travelled to Plymouth Albion for the presentation. All our social, welfare and playing policies are now in place and will be reviewed annually. We are now one of eleven clubs in Devon who have achieved SOA status and this has already borne fruit with a sizeable grant be made to the club by the RFU for pitch improvement this summer.

We as a junior section are still self financing and to all those parents, supporters and volunteers who help to raise funds and support the junior section a big thank you. We have recently received some significant donations from local organisations in Okehampton which will stand us in good stead for the coming season. Every penny will be directed towards furthering the development of junior rugby in the town.

The majority of our coaches now have a coaching certificate and others are working towards theirs. Two Coaches are currently in the middle of their Level One and two Neil Folland and Chris Searle will attend a Level Two course at Hartpury College in the August. This level of commitment comes at a cost and those courses together with a recent Safeguarding and Protecting Children course attended by some twenty coaches, volunteers and officials will cost the junior section almost £1000. All our coaches and assistants are fully CRB checked.

Last year we were charged £1300 by Okehampton College for use of the Astroturf, a significant rise on previous years. With the new astro being constructed we have already been put on warning that charges will increase next year. Unfortunately there appears to be little chance of a discount at this stage and we may need to consider other options or raise our subscription charges to cover what is becoming a significant cost. I am currently looking at funding schemes both local and national to assist. On that note if you have friends, relatives or know of someone who may take on the funding role please let me know.

On the playing front each age group have had a successful season some coming very close to winning festival medals. Some of the rugby played by the mini’s has been outstanding and we look forward to their development over the coming years. Our biggest priority currently is to find an Under 7 coach for the coming season. We are looking at ways to engage with the local primary schools in the West Devon area over the coming months so maximising our numbers of not only boys but girls as well for the coming season. Hopefully the current Lions tour will do what England’s world Cup victory did for junior rugby in 2003. The juniors continue to flourish and each group had some memorable matches often against more fancied opponents. The Under 12’s were unlucky in the Festival, the Under 13’s and 14’s both had a serious contingent of boys in the North Devon representative sides coached by Chris Searle, Steve Francis and Neil Folland. At the festival both sides took on and beat the more favoured sides from South, East and West Devon. All the coaches will again be involved next year ensuring players at our club get a fair hearing at the trials. The Under 15’s lost in the Plate semi and the Under 16’s had a great second half of the season when the players recognised their own potential and played some lovely rugby.

I would also like to thank those of you who have attended and passed the ELRA ref’s course. Only in exceptional circumstances are games refereed by a non qualified ref. This is a policy we intend to continue with next season so please all parents, supporters, coaches and players support our referee’s.

Our objective over the next two seasons must be to win a festival or a Devon Cup in the 13 -16 age group. We get closer each year.

I would like to thank all coaches, volunteers, parents and supporters for all their hard work over the last season. There is lots more to do and the Committee is working hard to put these measures in place for next season. Okehampton RFC is situated on the north-east edge of Dartmoor just off the A30. Okehampton is approximately 20 miles east of Exeter and 18 miles from the Cornish border. The town of Oke hampton has a long tradition of involvement with rugby football union and was one of the first clubs in the county to set up a junior section outside of Colts rugby.

The club currently runs ten junior teams from under 7 to under 16’s who play league rugby in the Landscape League. Junior rugby in Okehampton is run in association with North Tawton RFC and the teams are commonly known as ‘Northokes’. A full fixture list starts for the older teams in early September with the mini sides starting in October. Matches are played on Sundays at 11 a.m on a home and away basis. Home matches are either at Okehampton or on the free draining pitches at North Tawton.



The junior section is self funding and social functions are held throughout the year for the children, parents and supporters. Okehampton is proud of its rugby tradition and also proud of the players we produce. England international Julian White played a number of seasons at Okehampton and both Mark Scrivenor and Richard Bolt recently played for England Schools at 16/18 level having played all their junior rugby at Okehampton. Last year many of the previous seasons Colts played for the Okehampton Ist XV in the Devon and Cornwall League, all these players have risen through our junior ranks and currently form the backbone of the club.