? Under 8's from Coach Leonnie @ Kent Festival
Luckily the rain held off and it wasn't a muddy day much to the disappointment to most of the children! (But relief to the parents!)
We had a fantastic day of rugby again. It's been amazing to see all the children working well in different teams this week. One massive improvement is the children's communication with each other and the independence on the pitch as a team.
Thank you to Sittingbourne Rugby Club and again thank you to Naomi for arranging this for us all.

? Under 9's @ Kent Festival
Coach Jake, Some great rugby played by all the children. Great passing and negotiation involved by the teams with some strong running breaking defensive lines. Week by week progression is made. Even some of the shy tacklers switched on Sunday.
Coach George, we played against some really big tackling teams, we held our own. The big hits were shaken off. A few wake up calls but in the last game finally having a good understanding of ball moving faster than player. I have never seen our team pass so well and couldn’t be prouder of every kid out there today.
A side note from lead Vince, I'd like to thank the coaches and parents that helped little Ernest on the road to recovery. He collected the teams first concussion and was very brave in doing so. It's great to see that our coaches have taken concussion seriously and recognised the important red flags. Wishing Ernest a speedy recovery and well done to all players on Sunday.

? Under 10's from Coach Pete @ Kent Festival
A tough Kent festival for the U10’s who came up against some powerful opposition. The sun held up and both teams we had fielded stayed strong throughout the morning. The U10s were down a few players due to siblings being on the u13s youth tour. We fielded a team of 8 and a team of 7 so neither team had subs. From the outset it would get tougher as the day wore on and they came up against some tough opposition.
There were a few struggles from some aggressive opposition however the valley 10’s kept their composure and did the club proud. Some incredible tackles were made from both the teams and we’d like to spotlight Tilly for her all round game and workrate but we are MOST pleased with Adomas who has "clicked" during training and has taken what he has learned into his match day tackling, he made a real difference to the squad.
The day ended when in the last play of the last game we had a player take to the ground from a great tackle, with an all clear from the paramedics we left the festival with our heads held high knowing the kids had given it their all.

? Under 11's from Coach Matt @ Kent Festival
Our final Kent Festival for the U11 boys and so we were keen to finish with another good performance.
Both teams started slowly in their opening games, eventually losing both, which has been unheard of this season. So, with extra encouragement and analysis from the coaches, we looked for improvement's straight away.
And by the end of the mornings rugby we finished with a very respectable, 6wins, 2losses and a draw. The boys stuck in there at crucial moments in some of the closer games and really worked for each other, little shows like that always impress the coaches.
With Tour in a couple of weekends time, followed by our final festival of the season at Westcombe Park, it’s looking like another great season for this thriving age group.

? Under 12 boy's from Coach Craig
The final game of the waterfall league for the under 12's saw the boys travel to Sevenoaks who are not just unbeaten in this phase, but also a team that have not been scored against, a tough opponent! A win would take DV top of the table.
The first 10 minutes of the game and it was looking promising, the strong ball carriers of Dartford Valley were punching holes in the Sevenoaks well organised defensive line and making great yards, and the backs were moving the ball nicely, however, Sevenoaks were very good in the tackle and fast to jackal and ruck, turning the ball over and playing fast.
The speed of the game was taking its toll on the bigger DV team and finally some holes started to appear for 7Oaks to infiltrate, some decisive runs, and accurate passing saw them score 4 tries to 0 at half time. The DV boys didn't give up though and carried on working hard for Zak to finally shake off 4 players to score breaking 7Oaks 3 game clean sheet! Unfortunately Valley again reacting too slowly to get back onside from a penalty, and a well returned clearance kick saw 7Oaks score 2 more tries, ending the game Sevenoaks 35 - 5 Dartford Valley.
Although the boys were disappointed with the loss, they should be extremely proud of themselves for the improvement they have shown from the beginning of the season, and that their hard work in training & perseverance on the field has earnt them 2nd place in the league.
Well done boys.

? Under 14 girl's from Coach Tom
This Sunday saw the U14’s Beccs Valley (BV) Girls travel to Canterbury to compete in the Kent 7’s Festival…
We entered two teams and set about showing the rest of Kent what these Beccs Valley girls are made of…. After 4 very tough group games for both teams BV reds made it through to the cup playoff while BV crimsons made it to the Bowl playoffs…
First up for BV Crimsons was a combined Sheppy and Canterbury side.. BV quickly dispatched them in a one sided semi final.. Then a tough final vs OA’s… OA’s took an early two try lead, the BV girls really needed to dig deep to turn it around and dig they did… try’s from Florence Lexie and Tinks at the end secured a hard fought win for the BV Crimsons…
BV Reds faced Dartfordians in the cup semi final… A very tough and very close win 3 try’s to two.. Set up a final against a familiar foe TJ’s… BV Reds went 3 try’s to one down with only 2 minutes left in the final showed the same grit and sheer will win shown by BVC late try’s by Scarlett x 2 and Lucy on the very last play of the game to bring home the silverware…
An incredibly proud group of parents and coaches…. This is a special age group with an amazing group of girls… The future is definitely bright…
Onwards & Upwards!!

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