DRAGON FESTIVAL
U7 to U10 Age Groups
23rd March 2025

A very warm welcome to our annual Minis Dragon Festival. We look forward to welcoming teams across U7s to U10s age groups to our home at Old Deer Park.

FESTIVAL FORMAT
• Age groups from U7s to U10s inclusive
• A minimum of 4 games per team, with some breaks between games.
• RFU Regulation 15 – Age Grade Rugby rules apply
• TREDS winners per age group

Mixed Ability and Half Game Rule
All teams should be mixed ability and clubs are expected to operate the Half Game Rule to ensure involvement from all their players. We encourage teams to go further and ensure all players get equal game time.

To ensure a smooth and enjoyable Festival all teams must be at the correct pitch as per the final Order of Play (available on Festival day) at least 5 minutes before kick-off so that allotted start times are maintained. Coaches remain off the pitch during all games except to attend to an injury and at half time. This includes breaks in play.

FESTIVAL TIMINGS (subject to change)
0800am – 0840am Registration
0845am Coach and referees briefing in age group areas
09:00am – 11:30am Matches
11:45am Festival awards presentation and Raffle with trophies for individual TREDS winners and the prestigious Dragons Festival Overall Winners

CAR PARKING
We have limited car parking spaces available on site which will be available on a “first come first served” basis. Car parking will be open from 08:15 at a cost of £5.00 per vehicle.

There are two entrances for parking, both on Kew Road; the Main Gate and the Lions Gate (at the south end of Kew Gardens). Parking marshals will be in attendance at each gate to assist drivers. Parking in the surrounding streets is possible on a Sunday although check the signs before you leave your car as some areas have time limits for free parking. Parking is otherwise possible in the surrounding residential roads although we would strongly request careful and courteous parking of all vehicles assisting us in maintaining the goodwill of residents.

Please note that Old Deer Park has an automatic number plate technology (ANPR) system in place. This will be suspended on the day of the festival, so there is no need to register your vehicle in the clubhouse.

If your match day party includes people with a disability or limited mobility, then please contact us before the day to ensure suitable arrangements can be made for drop-off and potentially, parking. Please contact;

London Welsh Mini Rugby Chairman:
Jonathan Fursland
minischairman@londonwelshrfc.co.uk

TEAM DECLARATION
In the week before the festival, the lead contact for each club will be sent a declaration form, which they should complete on behalf of each club.

The declaration form will ask for conformation that the club has RFU registered players and that they are playing in the correct age group.

The form needs to be completed by midday on Saturday 22nd March.

TEAM REGISTRATION
On the day of the festival, we ask that a representative from each team, or age group, register their attendance.

Registration will be open from 8:15 – 8:45 on the day of the Festival at the Festival Tent in front of the Clubhouse in the Festival Village. For the location of the Festival Registration Tent, please refer to the Festival Pitch and Site Map that follows.

At registration, you will be given medals for your playing squads.

MATCH SCHEDULE – ORDER OF PLAY

In the days leading up to the festival, the organisers will set up Whats App groups for each age group and populate them with the contacts for each club.

The match schedule will be made available through the age group Whats App group via the Tournify app in the days leading up to the tournament.

PLEASE NOTE; NO PAPER COPIES of the MATCH SCHEDULE - ORDER OF PLAY will be provided by London Welsh RFC.

TEAM SHELTERS
There will be space for these to be erected as indicated in the Festival Pitch Map that follows. All shelters must be adequately secured to withstand any gusts of wind on the day.

FIRST AID
Qualified medical staff will be providing first aid support and will be located on site near the Grandstand as indicated in the Festival Pitch Map that follows. Medical support vehicles will be present. It is essential that all should be attentive to their manoeuvres and whereabouts throughout the grounds so that access is kept clear at all times.

CLUBHOUSE AND FOOD & DRINK
Hot food and drinks will be available from both inside and outside the clubhouse from 8:00. The bar will also be open from 11:00.

No boots are allowed in the Clubhouse.

PHOTOGRAPHS
DE Photos will be taking individual and team photos throughout the festival, which will be available for purchase from their onsite stand. All DE Photo staff are DBS checked and the company operates a strict Child Protection Policy and Code of Ethics, which can be viewed on their website at https://www.dephoto.biz/child-protection-policy

Anyone else attending the Festival that wishes to take photographs or video for their own or club use, please refer to page 10 of the RFU safeguarding policies in the following document on the RFU website; https://www.englandrugby.com/governance/safeguarding

PUBLIC FACILITIES
Gents in the annex behind the clubhouse, ladies on the first floor of the main building and also through the door by the club shop.

NO DOGS ALLOWED
Old Deer Park is used for sports events all year round; the grounds are a dog free area other than pre authorised guide dogs if appropriate.

SAFETY
All children are the responsibility of parents, guardians, and team coaches. Lost and found items (including children) will be taken to the Festival Tent. There are no fire drills planned so any alarm is to be treated as a real incident.

MAIN SPECTATOR STAND
For health & safety reasons the main stand is STRICTLY out of bounds during the festival. Please use the open pitch side areas to watch the games.

BEHAVIOUR
The enjoyment of all our players is paramount at the festival. We expect all spectators as our own club members to encourage their own teams and applaud other teams in a respectful way. Equally we expect match officials to be treated with the utmost respect by players, coaches and spectators. Please ensure parents and spectators are aware of the rugby spirit and act accordingly.

RUGBY FORMAT
The festival will be conducted under the RFU New Rules of Play.

Age Grade Squad Size (max) Team Size (max) Max Pitch Size (as close as) Match Time
(per half) Half Time
U7 6 4 20m x 12m 5 mins 2 mins
U8 9 6 45m x22m 6 mins 2 mins
U9 10 7 60m x 30m 6 mins 2 mins
U10 12 8 60m x 35m 7 mins 2 mins
The festival will be conducted under the regulations for all ages and in accordance with age grade rugby framework– see the RFU website;

Age Grade Rugby;
https://www.englandrugby.com/governance/rules-and-regulations/regulations

Safeguarding;
https://www.englandrugby.com/governance/safeguarding

REFEREES
Referees are all volunteers and all clubs are requested to ensure they allocate a qualified referee for each team registered. The availability of referees is critical to ensure the order of play keeps to time. Please refer to the Age Grade Formats above for Referee’s required for each Age Group.

DRAGON FESTIVAL – TREDS VALUES SCORING
The Dragon Festival is unique in that it awards prizes to competing clubs, based on their adherence to the TREDS values.

This year we are changing the procedure to allow individuals – rather than teams, to be recognised for their TREDS contributions in matches.

At the end of all games in each age grade, a coaching representative from each club will gather together and inform the London Welsh representative of their choice of TREDS winner from the other teams they have played.

Their choice will be based on witnessing TREDS values being put in to action during the morning’s matches.

We ask that the coaches from the clubs where the individuals have been nominated, inform the player’s parents and ask that they can stay for the presentation at the end of the morning.

We will then work out which club has won the most individual TREDS awards (adjusted for the number of matches each club has played) and that team will be awarded the overall Dragon trophy.

Awards and Presentations
The Dragon Trophy and individual awards will be presented, along with the raffle, in front of the clubhouse at a time to be specified nearer the time.

CANCELLATION/ WEATHER
In the event of bad weather (or any other situation) threatening the Festival, a decision will be made about cancellation by 17:00 on Saturday 22nd March. We shall contact all visiting clubs ONLY in the event the Festival is cancelled. If you are not contacted, the Festival is on!

PITCH and SITE MAP

LOCATION
London Welsh RFC, Old Deer Park, 187 Kew Road, Richmond, TW9 2AZ.

Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/726pm21ABYaVpGH87

What 3 Words (Main Gate Entrance): ///fuels.blank.ranked
What 3 Words (Lions Gate Entrance): ///towers.hooks.erase

Nearest train station is Richmond (National Rail and Underground) and is a 10-minute walk away. The No.65 Bus from Ealing or Richmond stops outside the club grounds.

Team overview