TYNEDALE schoolchildren showed great enthusiasm as they joined hundreds of pupils across Northumberland for an action-packed afternoon of rugby.

Haydon Bridge High, and Hexham, Highfield and Ovingham Middle schools all produced a team at both Year 7 and Year 8 level for the Northumberland RFU schools rugby festival, held at Bullocksteads Sports Ground.

The local children all played their part in making for an excellent day of junior rugby, a total of 35 school teams from across the county entering the 10-a-side competition.

The annual festival is growing in popularity each year, a positive indication of the love for the game in the area.

Northumberland RFU community rugby coach Scott Powell, who plays for Tynedale‘s first team, said: “Today is all about participation, so it’s a festival rather than a competition with winners and losers. It gives the children the chance to express themselves and enjoy their rugby.

“It’s about enabling everybody to get involved in rugby, and playing as much as possible in a set time.

”The children have come from all over the county and it‘s great that pupils from Tynedale schools get the chance to play teams that they wouldn’t normally, for example teams from Ashington or Blyth.

”When we ran this four years ago, there weren‘t too many teams entered but now there’s pretty much every school in Northumberland represented.

“The West of Northumberland is always well represented which is good to see, and I think that is to the credit to the hard work of the schools and community clubs.”

While the festival provided a great opportunity for around 400 budding rugby players, it also helped potential officials get started.

Thirty teenagers aged 14 and above, again hailing from all parts of Northumberland, were presented with the challenge of refereeing the games.

As they are put through their Level One referee‘s course, they were able to gain some practical experience at the festival.