One of the best pieces of advice I received, many years ago, was to never arrange fixtures for the second weekend of a half-term - because you'll only ever raise half a team.
When the drift to Summer began, I was convinced that it could never work at school age level because of the enforced breaks at Easter and during the long Summer holidays. But when did 'they who must be obeyed' ever listen to the volunteers?
Summer advocates can fall back on festivals and round-robins, but I fail to see how youth rugby will ever be able to sustain a league format that takes place weekly between March and November.
