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Teams Confirmed For Aviva Mini Rugby Festival In Ulster

Young rugby players from 27 rugby clubs will be represented at the Aviva Mini Rugby Festival in Ballyclare RFC this Saturday (October 8), as the Aviva Mini Rugby Festival season gets underway.

There will be 22 Boys Under-10 clubs taking part, while the Girls Under-12 section will see a number of clubs combining on the day, in what is set to be an exciting occasion for all involved.

The sides will play against each other in a non-competitive and fun environment, as well as getting the chance to develop their skills and interact with other teams from across their province.

Each participant in the Festival will receive a Certificate of Particiaption exclusively signed by Robbie Henshaw, Rory Best and Jamie Heaslip.

This Saturday’s event will be the first of four provincial blitzes taking place across the season, and teams that take part in these events will have the opportunity to play at the Aviva Stadium in May.

As part of this season’s Mini Rugby Festivals, sponsors Aviva will be running a nationwide competition, open to every club in the country with a Mini Rugby team.

The prize will be an Aviva/IRFU Mini Rugby Training Session at the winning team ground along with €;1,000 worth of training equipment for the team.

Aviva will also be launching a series of online training videos for Mini Rugby with Robbie Henshaw and Jenny Murphy that will see them teaching some of the core skills for Mini Rugby players, highlighting to players and coaches what they can do to improve their key skills from a young age.

Ireland captain Rory Best is looking forward to visiting the festival in Ballyclare on Saturday, saying: “The Aviva Mini Rugby Festivals are a great way to bring players and clubs together in a fun and friendly environment.

“With this weekend being the first of the festivals and with an All-Ireland festival taking place at the home of Irish Rugby in the Aviva Stadium in 2017, it is set to be a great season of mini rugby.”

Mark Russell, Sponsorship Manager, Aviva Ireland, said: “The Ulster Mini Rugby Festival is kicking off what will be an even better Mini Rugby season for Aviva with the IRFU.

“We will be launching online content for players and coaches with expert tips from Robbie Henshaw and Jenny Murphy and will be giving one Mini Rugby team that opportunity of a lifetime to host an IRFU Mini Rugby Coaching session.

“This along with again providing the chance for each team involved to play at the Aviva Stadium for the National Festival next May, means it will be the best Mini Rugby season to date.”

AVIVA MINI RUGBY FESTIVAL TEAMS – BALLYCLARE RFC, ULSTER (Saturday, October 8):

Boys Under-10s

Ballyclare RFC
Armagh RFC
Monaghan RFC
Belfast High School Former Pupils RFC
Ballymena RFC
Cooke RFC
Inishowen RFC
Ballynahinch RFC
Letterkenny RFC
Lisburn RFC
Coleraine RFC
Rainey Old Boys RFC
Portadown RFC
Malone RFC
Enniskillen RFC
Academy RFC
Naas RFC (two teams visiting from Leinster)

Girls Under-12s