oioi league or union?
Union mate
good stuff.
Can not put in to words what a great decision it was for me to play union as a kid, grew up 10 fold.
Played football until i was 11/12 and wanted a change after getting left on the bench to have managers sons/coaches sons play ahead of me even though they weren't as good (not bitter at all). I used to play up front and my strike partner scored 4/5* the amount of goals i scored in a season but i would assist about 80% of his. Whenever i did not play he kicked up a fuss but the managers did not seem to get it anyway.....
After football i went to play league (growing up in warrington thats what my mates played) also we had about 3/4 league clubs within 10 minutes and the nearest union was a good 15 minutes away but the club my dad eventually took me to was 25 minutes away. Anyway i played league for about 3 months and decided i didnt like it. I enjoyed the game but it was to similar to football, the way the parents were the way the kids were treated etc etc.
So i went to play union and thinking back to it now it was a huge commitment from my dad every sunday he gave up a good 4/5 hours, bet he was relieved when i started to drive!! Rugby union taught me loads of things but the biggest aspect I will take through with me for the rest of my life is respect. I learnt to respect my coaches, my team mates and most importantly the officials. These people gave up their time (admittedly they got paid but we all know thats not the reason most of them do it). Whenever i played sport in school (rugby league school) i took that respect with me, you can imagine the dismay when i fouled a player in football and the ref came over and i responded with "sorry sir" etc footballers never understood!
The other point i mentioned above is friendship, my friends from rugby are like no other if we see each other now its like no time has passed since we last met. Going on rugby tour, digging your mate out of the bottom of a ruck and celebrating wins with them nothing like it. Always going for a drink and food after a game all these little things meant so much and they are memories ill never forget!
I hope your lad enjoys it as much as I did i hope he gets involved on and off the pitch (and i hope you do to my dad used to love rugby tours!!!)
Lewis has played rugby since he was 6-7 he played tag first then moved up to contact
Last season he was with another club but at the end of the season they never had a presentation night we decided then we would find another club.
We try one but he couldn't get on and didn't mix very well
So we left it a while
Then half way through the season we tried Oadby wigstonians and never looked back !
He went on tour with them (I was invited but couldn't go)
And he loved that as well !
So it was a big shock that he got players player only being there for half a season
I so wish I played the game
The closest I got to rugby was with a water bottle in the army !
Author