It’s funny how the country’s professional sport stars tend to take a lengthy break over the winter – the Superliga, for example, is off from early December until early March – but yet many children’s clubs keep on playing sport in all conditions outdoors.
But there was no frosty welcome for the would-be rugby stars of the future when they assembed in the warm confines of the DTU Sports Hall in Lyngby for a Tag Rugby Introduction organised by the Exiles international rugby club.
Boys and girls, aged nine to 15, gathered for the two-hour session where they were put through their paces by a couple of coaches from the club.
Tag rugby is a great way to get introduced to the sport, but without the contact. Instead of tackling their opponents, defenders simply have to remove their tag – providing they have the ball of course!
During the try-out, the children were encouraged to practise the cornerstone skills of the sport: running, passing, catching and defending. And they had quickly made so much progress that the coaches felt they were ready for a proper game of tag rugby to finish off the evening in style.
Although most of the children present were from the international community, Exiles tends to also draw a fair proportion of its players from the local Danish population.
”We are keen to strengthen our junior team by recruiting from the international community as well as inviting local Danes to come along,” said one of the coaches.
"We will be hosting another such rugby evening [again aimed at nine to 15-year-olds] early in 2014, but the details have not yet been worked out."
Those interested in attending the next session are advised to check the club’s website, www.exiles.dk, and search for ‘Rookie Days’ and ‘Rugby Introduction Evening’.
