While action on the pitch at Goldington Road comes to an end for another season, their junior counterparts have been active on what was a busy weekend for the mini Blues.
A number of Bedford Blues Juniors teams took part in the Bedfordshire RFU County Festival on Sunday with teams from Under 7’s to Under 14’s present in a bumper weekend of youth rugby.
Before the festival however, there was a range of treats for the junior section, beginning with some of the Under 10’s and Under 11’s waving out the teams on Friday night as Bedford Blues welcomed Coventry to Goldington Road.
Read: Coventry hold on to upset dogged Blues under Friday night lights
On Saturday, club members travelled to Twickenham for England’s Six Nations clash with Ireland before a visit to Saracens where England Under 20’s were in action, also against Ireland.
Sunday saw the County festival being held for the first time since March 2019; the Under 7’s, 8’s and 9’s travelling over to Dunstable for a series of games against local rivals.
They took on Ampthill, Leighton Buzzard, Biggleswade, Luton and Dunstablians in a series of pool matches with all the players receiving a medal at the final whistle.
The Under 10’s ,11’s and 12’s entered two teams per age group as they travelled to Luton RFC to battle the same clubs as the rain thankfully held off.
The Under 13’s combined with Ampthill to form a ‘Barbarians’ side as they travelled to Leighton Buzzard for the County Festival, while the Under 14’s took on Old Grammarians in their Herts/Middlesex league match.
And it doesn’t end there.
Because of the success and popularity of mini and junior rugby in Bedford, and as a result of the size of some of the age groups, not all players can attend festivals which have limited numbers.
To to give as many players as possible game time, the remaining members of the Under 9’s squad took on rivals Ampthill, whilst the remaining Under 10’s formed two more teams and hosted Milton Keynes RUFC Under 10’s for the first time.
This weekend sees another busy round of rugby with three mini age groups travelling to Old Albanians, and three teams hosting St Albans.
If you are interested in taking up rugby, you can contact Bedford Junior Blues here.
