Minis rugby in Ireland is a Sunday morning institution. Hundreds of children from under-7s to under-12s fill the club's pitches, parents line the touchline with flasks of coffee, coaches with whistles marshal tag games and tackle drills, and the season ends with a presentation day or evening in April or May where every child gets a medal. For the minis coordinator or an age-group coach, a short video of the season makes that day special.
Minis groups are big and mixed: some children are confident runners, others hang back, and the jerseys are muddy and identical by half time. The photos that families share tend to follow the strongest players. A fair video needs a simple system from the first Sunday.
The minis season, step by step
September, the first Sunday
Set up a season for your age group and share the link on the minis WhatsApp group. The first-day line-up, everyone in clean jerseys and too-big boots, is the perfect opening.
Away blitzes in the autumn
Blitzes at neighbouring clubs bring team photos with other clubs and plenty of fun. Remind families to upload after each trip.
January
Look at the coverage list. Quieter children on the edge of the play are usually missing. Send the reminder that names them; parents of other children are often happy to help.
The spring festival
End-of-season festivals produce medals, face paint and, if you are lucky, sunshine. Remind parents the night before.
Two weeks before presentation day
Close the photo window a few days before the day and watch the first cut with another coach.
Steps that suit minis rugby
One season per age group
Each age group gets its own link and video. Paste first names; minis jerseys rarely carry fixed numbers, so leave them blank and let families' tags do the matching.
Mark consent from club registration
Your club collects photo consent through its registration system. Flag any child without it before you share the link; their photos stay hidden and out of the video.
Photograph the warm-up circle
Minis sessions start and end in a circle around the coach. A photo from behind the coach catches every face in the group at once.
Let the coaches use one phone
Coaches can upload as supporters and tag children in batches. A coach's photos from the middle of the pitch often show the children parents cannot see from the touchline.
Watch it through once, then export
Sundays and blitzes become chapters, the clearest photos are chosen, and every child reaches the same minimum. Watch it through, swap anything odd, and export.
Moments only minis rugby has
Minis rugby is full of things that never happen in adult rugby. The coaches crouching to tie laces before every game, the tag belts in two colours piled on the grass, the tiny scrum of under-9s learning to bind, and the parents' tunnel at the end of a blitz are all worth a photo. Some clubs invite a senior or provincial player to a training session; the queue for autographs and the group photo with the visitor make a highlight. If your club holds a minis day with face painting, a barbecue and a parents' tag game, ask a parent to photograph the adults losing to the children, which always gets the loudest laugh on presentation day.
How long should a minis video be?
Minis groups can have 30 or more children. At two appearances each, plus group photos, a group of 30 needs about five minutes. If every age group shows a video at presentation day, aim for three to four minutes each by asking for more group photos, which count for every child in them.
How many photos do I need?Photos to collect for your team size and video length.The Pitch style's bold titles and stripes suit rugby. Pick a cheerful instrumental; the children will cheer for themselves anyway.
Presentation day checklist for minis
On the day
- Set up the screen somewhere children can sit on the floor in front of it.
- Load every age group's video on one laptop in the order of the medals.
- Turn the volume up: a clubhouse full of excited minis is loud.
- Play each video just before that group's medals.
- Share each group's private link with its parents afterwards.
Privacy and safeguarding
Faces are never scanned or recognised. Children are matched to photos by the tags their families add and the numbers on their jersey. Only first names are stored, location data is removed on the phone before upload, the season’s link is private and never appears in search engines, and anything inappropriate for a youth sports setting is hidden automatically. Any parent can report a photo, and the organiser has the final say on every photo in the video.
Minis questions
Can we include summer tag rugby?
If it is part of the same season and before the deadline, yes. It becomes its own chapter by date.
Some children joined halfway through. Is that okay?
Yes. Add them to the roster when they join and they get the same minimum appearances, as long as there are enough photos of them.
Our group has two children with the same name. How does that work?
An initial is added automatically, so parents see, for example, "Fionn B." and "Fionn D." when they choose and tag.
Is the price per child?
No. The price is per season for the whole group, and parents never pay to upload or watch.