 'Blacksticks Blue' Challenge |
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Competition Sponsor
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in association with
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Match Results
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to be emailed by the Monday following each round (click here)
Email: Match Day Three
The signed match report form, to be posted, scanned & emailed (JPG/PDF) or faxed to the contact details shown, must be received by the Friday following the match. (2 Point Penalty)
Match Reports & Photos to be emailed to
- BlacksticksBlue@aol.com
Sides receive Fair Play credits for submitting written reports and photo images (both by email only)
NB: photos received to date will still be loaded; time permitted!)
- Match Report Form
(Click link above)
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| Competition Dates |
| - Qualifying Pool matches |
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05-Oct
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19-Oct
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09-Nov
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23-Nov
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07-Dec
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21-Dec
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18-Jan
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| Knock Out stage |
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15-Feb
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Play Off Sunday
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08-Mar
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'Super Sunday'
Quarter Finals
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22-Mar
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All Competitions
Semi-Finals
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05-Apr
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Plate & Vase
Finals Day
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26-Apr
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Challenge Cup
Finals Day
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| Junior Referees |
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North West Coordinator
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| Links & Downloads |
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(click link)
- County Festival arrangements
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Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses
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In a major investment, the award winning Lancashire cheese maker, Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses of Inglewhite, near Preston, has agreed to support the County’s season-long ‘BLACKSTICKS BLUE’ Junior Challenge for the Under 13s to Under 16s age groups.
Thirty-five clubs, over 100 teams and well over 2000 players are involved in an competition which starts in September and reaches its conclusion at the end of April with two strongly-contested festival days, both providing a celebration of junior rugby in Lancashire.
Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses, with dairies in Preston, Cheshire and South Africa, is well known for its “Blacksticks Blue” variety and the brand takes a distinctive position on the cheese counters of most of the UK supermarket shelves.
In addition to sponsoring the 375-match competition, the company will also be supporting Lancashire rugby's junior County squads as ‘headline’ sponsors.
‘BLACKSTICKS BLUE’ will appear on all the Lancashire shirts worn by the Under 14s to Under 18s representative sides.
Colin Hall, Managing Director of the family company, was delighted to learn that the three-year investment had attracted the eye of the Sportsmatch Panel during a very competitive bidding process.
“Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses is delighted to be associated with Lancashire County RFU, and to take the thriving junior competition forward for the next three years. ‘Blacksticks Blue’ is one of our principal brands, and we are looking forward to our association with Lancashire rugby and the players involved”
County Treasurer, Robert Grant, is very appreciative of the company's involvement. “We have set ourselves a long term-aim to build lasting and productive relationships with major commercial partners. Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses is now a key members of the ‘Club Lancashire’ team.”
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Teams that fail to report their scores in time, thereby adding to the administration involved, will suffer the two-point penalty under the competition regulations.
Scores must be reported by email, or fax, by the Monday evening following the match. The match summary forms, fully completed and signed by managers and referee, must be lodged with the competition administrator, sent by post, email or fax, by the Friday morning following the match.
The match number turning blue indicates receipt of the completed, signed, form.
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For the 2008/09
Match Report Form,
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A record number of teams (110) from 34 (now 35) Lancashire clubs entered the Blacksticks Blue Challenge for the 2008/09 competiton.
Now in the event's fifth season, the fixture list includes the largest ever total of matches leading up to the Challenge Cup Finals day on Sunday, 26th April 2009.
28 teams compete in the seven week, fixed date qualifying programme running though to January at Under 13s, Under 14s and Under 16s. 26 sides join the Under 15s' list.
The Junior Bowl, introduced into the programme last season, is scheduled to be in the knock-out calendar which begins with a range of play-off matches on Sunday 15th February 2009.
Despite the increasing numbers, and 20 of the 34 applications including all four junior sides, no club has four matches at home on the same day.
Where clubs have three home games, and have limited facilities, early advice to their opposition should be given about the intended kick-off time.
| FINALS: Sun April 5th & April 26th 2009 |
A venue is sought to host the eight-match 'Blacksticks Blue' Junior Plate and Junior Vase Finals Day, on Sunday, 5th April 2009.
A venue is also sought for Lancashire's 'Blacksticks Blue' Junior Challenge Cup Finals, on Sunday 26th April.
All other dates are as per the fixtures allocated by the Competitions Committee, all to be played on the scheduled Junior Challenge days and as first published and distributed in October 2007.
No subsequent alterations to the Qualifying Pool fixtures will be accommodated, designed to ensure that the maximum number of teams play on both the first and last rounds of the qualifying pool, and in the other rounds that no more than three competition games are played at the same venue on the same day.
In pools of seven teams, one side will have a vacant date for that round, and the sides so affected will automatically be added to the Junior Pool, unless they indicate otherwise. With 28 sides at three of the four age groups, it is not possible to arrange for home venues to host only two games as in past year.
1) The CRB details forms for Managers and Coaches, giving details of adults supervising children in the Junior Challenge MUST be completed, with current RFU-sourced CRB numbers, and issued within the last three years. These completed forms will be sent to the County Welfare Officer and County Executive Committee to ensure Lancashire's compliance with RFU regulations.
A full list of the awaited information is shown here.
NB. Failure to supply will lead to the inability to comunicate information to teams, and will generate a reduction in the credits awarded in the annual Fair Play trophy for all the teams for which the information has not been submitted.
2) There will ne no 'first-round' amnesty for RFU Registrations this season. Registration cards must be available for inspection from Round One. Following a recent Court of Appeal judgement, the existing regulation regarding age grade players is re-emphasised. As has always been the regulation for the Junior Cup Competition, NO player may take part in a match in an age group below that in which he qualifies by virtue of his date of birth, i.e. at midnight on 31st August at the beginning of the season.
3) All clubs are encouraged to advise players NOT to wear bladed boots particularly in competition matches, especially metal or the plastic/nylon variety;
4) For all matches, and particularly at 15s and 16s, a spectator viewing area is roped, fenced or segregated to ensure no encroachment onto the pitch or injury to players/spectators; and
5) For all matches, a designated 'steward' should be appointed to ensure that crowd behaviour is appropriate and controlled within both the terms of the RFU Code of Conduct and the traditions of the game.
RFU.com 
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