Every Sunday between September and May, Bradwall Road, home of Sandbach Rugby Club, is bustling with activity. This is because of Sandbach’s thriving mini and junior rugby section, which celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this year.

Around 350 children, between the ages of 6 and 18, and over 80 incredible volunteers - as well as supporting families - turn up each week to represent and support the club. Volunteer roles include coaches, team managers, admin support, first aiders to name a few.

Some teams will be playing matches at home, some away and some will be training but wherever they’re playing, the core rugby values are being taught through matches, skills sessions or fun games.

To mark the special milestone, the club is planning a series of events throughout the season. Two weeks ago, on Sunday 8th September, both the mini and juniors got together for the inaugural event - a mixed touch rugby festival. This provided the children with an opportunity to play with and against children from different age groups, which they wouldn’t normally do.

Only extreme weather calls a halt to rugby and the torrential rain on the day cut the festival short but before that, the various age groups played on during the September downpour and it didn’t dampen their spirits. The mixed teams, worked together with smiles on their faces, strengthening the one club ethos.

Other fun activities were postponed until later in the season but the Junior Colts game against Garstang and the Senior Colts game against Macclesfield went ahead as planned with both teams securing home victories.

Paul Jackson, Sandbach Rugby’s Chairman, said, “Congratulations to all the mini and junior players, coaches, first aiders, helpers, volunteers, organisers and parents. It would be my hope that when we get to 100 years there will be plenty of you around who can remember the 50-year celebration."

A few years ago, the ‘20:20 > B4L’ mission was launched, which aims to keep twenty people involved in the club when each mini and junior age group reach the age of twenty, making them 'Bach 4 Life'. The club also have one rugby shirt for all, meaning that if you are playing for the 1st XV or playing for the under 6’s, you are part of the same club.

Current 1st XV player Archie Lea, who graduated to the senior team last season, epitomises the club’s mission and the spirit of the game. When not playing and training, Lea can be seen coaching the mini and juniors, refereeing matches or taking on the hardest task of all, cajoling the smallest players at Didi Rugby.

Commenting on the celebrations Lea said, “It was a great day celebrating the 50th anniversary of our amazing mini and junior section. The fact that a huge downpour didn't so much as dent the spirits of the children is testament to how much they love being at the club and playing rugby with their mates. It was also brilliant to have two wins from our Colts sides to cap off the celebrations as well!”

Sandbach boast a large number of mini and junior graduates who still represent the club or have gone on to play their rugby further afield. On the opening weekend of the season, Sandbach’s senior teams included an astonishing 44 out of 56 players who were products of the M&J programme, with 17 of the players under 20 and two 1st XV debuts given to players who left the senior colts last summer.

Reflecting on the 50th anniversary, director of rugby Andrew Bird said, “To reach this milestone is superb and to do so in the way we conduct ourselves as a club on and off the pitch is true credit to those who worked so very hard many years ago to establish the M&J section. You only have to see our weekly team sheets to understand the importance that the mini and junior section has on the whole club. Here’s to the next 50!”

The first ever mini and junior game took place in 1972 between Sandbach Colts and Broughton Park. The M&Js officially started two years later and by 1978 an average of eighty boys were playing per week with six mini teams and two junior teams. Cut to 2024 and the numbers have grown substantially but it is down to the determination of those who started it and those who continued it that account for its success.

One former Colt, who is still heavily involved in the running of the club, recalls, “The Colts team was actually formed two years before the mini and juniors and then incorporated into the one section. Out of the very first Colt’s team there are still seven active members at the club making them ‘Bach for life’. Thanks must be given to Tony Brookes for his vision so many years ago and the M&J Chairs and hundreds of volunteers who have followed on making the club what it is today.”

Club stalwart Pad Davenport also shared his thoughts, “From its infancy, when Tony Brookes, Alan Cid Bell and Lionel Garrett proposed a mini rugby section at the Club, I have seen it grow to become a model for other clubs, with most weeks the senior teams fielding around 75% of home-grown players. It has proved to be a vital component of the past, current and no doubt future success at senior level, making a major point of difference between Sandbach RUFC and most teams we play. I am proud to have captained the Colts XV, back in those inaugural years and subsequently gone on to captain and coach the club as well as several other administrative roles at Sandbach RUFC. Long may the mini and junior section continue to provide not just players, but supporters and volunteers and give hundreds of young people the chance to enjoy our great game.”

Paul Jackson observed, "Officially the mini and juniors section started 50 years ago but the whole club evolved as an Old Boys club from Sandbach School. It came from former school mates wanting to continue a sense of camaraderie, team spirit and friendship that they had from their school days. In that sense you could say the M&J section existed before the rest of the club and ‘Bach for life’ was an unwritten foundation of the club we all have the privileged to enjoy today.”

Over the years Sandbach mini and juniors has provided many players for Cheshire at age group level, some of whom have gone on to play at international age group level including Ross Sutherland (Scotland), Lee Imiolek, John Whittaker and more recently George Perkins (all England). Our M&J section has also regularly provided coaches and managers for Cheshire age group teams.

A number of players have gone on to higher levels. Notable examples who have made careers in professional ranks are Will Cliff (Sale Sharks), current Sandbach 1st XV head coach and player Tom Holmes (Sale Sharks) and James Gaskell (Sale Sharks, Wasps who captained the England A team and now plays in Japan). Of course, we have a current Scottish international who continues to make progress in the form of Ewan Ashman who plays for Edinburgh.

The club wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for its players, but the players wouldn’t be able to turn up every week if it weren’t for the tremendous support and dedication of the volunteers, who spend their free time teaching and promoting the game of rugby. The mini and juniors, and the club as a whole, will continue to prosper whilst there are children wanting to play rugby and volunteers willing to make it happen.

As well as the mini and juniors, the club has four senior men's teams, women's rugby, touch rugby, walking rugby and a girls rugby section. If you’re interested in playing rugby at any level, Sandbach Rugby Club has a team for you. Visit https://www.sandbachrufc.co.uk/ for more information.