In spite of the lack of rugby on the pitch since early March, Heath youth section - both the minis sponsored by The Orchards and the juniors supported by California Raisins - have been celebrating another successful season for over 450 young players aged between 6 and 16.

To mark the unusual end of season, the squad coaches have been nominating their respective players of the season, recognising across all squads that rugby is fundamentally a team game and therefore every member of every squad has an important role to play.

This year’s Heath Under 10s made a joint award for the 2019/20 Player of the Season with both Woody Ward and Kallen Cartwright receiving the accolade within a squad thriving on the opportunity to develop its basic rugby skills in matchplay situations, while ensuring in line with RFU regulations that all players receive equal pitch time.

Heath Under 11s will remember this season’s win at the Land Rover Cup which means that they should have the opportunity to represent Quins at the Gallagher Premiership Final at Twickenham (another reason to hope that the Premiership season reaches a conclusion this year). This group also had the chance to train under the guidance of former French international Serge Betsen - the veteran forward ran a rucking masterclass which gave the squad encouragement and purpose for their set piece skill development.

With an early and abrupt end to the season without the usual range of festivals this group would have normally been able to experience, the U11s player of the Season has been named as James Harrison, with Angus Cowan recognised as the Most Improved Player for this thriving young squad.

Yet again Heath Under 15 A squad remains undefeated in Sussex, winning the county A league with a game to spare and continuing an unbeaten run that now dates back eight seasons. Not to be outdone, the Under 15 development squad showed the strength and depth of this age group, beating many A teams across the county and coming joint top of their league, recording just one narrow one point loss to Guernsey A in a very competitive high scoring encounter.

With such a range of excellent individual performances this season the Under 15s awards were fiercely debated by the coaching team with the A team awarding the California Raisins Player of the Season to Sam Hardwicke and the Most Improved Player Award to Cam Reed and the U15 Development squad naming Giulio Smuraglia as the California Raisins Player of the Season and Jack Deere as the Most Improved Player.

Although the traditional end of season awards day at Heath has had to be postponed until rugby is able to return, the future definitely looks bright for HHRFC with all mini and junior age groups having fantastic seasons, while supporting the RFU core values of teamwork, respect, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship. Anyone wishing to join any age group from under 6 to under 16 in the minis or juniors, or the colts or seniors next season should contact rugby@hhrfc.co.uk