Rugby Royal Marines Cadets

Two Cadets from Rugby and Two Cadets from Redditch Sea Cadet Units made up the Warwickshire District Sea Cadet Team for the Inter-Service Cadet Rifle Meeting held at Bisley in Surrey this weekend. Lance Corporal Ryan Bott and Marine Cadet 2nd Class Ted Spiby represented the district with the two Redditch cadets, gaining 7th place out of 18 Sea Cadet Team. This is the highest position the Warwickshire District Team has gained in the Watts Bowl Competition, shot at 600 metres. The competition saw 125 cadet teams take part from the Sea Cadets, Army Cadet Force and Air Training Corps, with teams from Canda also competing. Sergeant (SCC) Alison Scholes coached the Warwickshire Team during the 6 month selection process, which picked four, 4 person teams from the South West Area of the Sea Cadets.

For the first time, not one but two cadets from Rugby Sea Cadets, have been awarded the Reg Day Memorial Trophies for attaining the highest overall marks on a District Leading Cadet and Petty Officer Cadet Advancement Board.

The District Advancement Boards test the cadets ability in a number of disciplines to include, drill and ceremonial, leadership, instructional methods, fire safety and self discipline.

The two trophies, one for the highest mark attained on a District Leading Cadet Board and the other for the highest mark attained on a District Petty Officer Cadet Board were first awarded in 1996 by the widow of Reg Day, a former Chief Petty Officer in the Sea Cadets.

It is a great honour to have won both trophies in the same year, which were presented by the District Officer, Lieutenant Commander (SCC) G. Truelove RNR at the Warwickshire District Drill Competition, held on Sunday 8th February 2009.

The recipients of these trophies pictured below are Leading Cadet Aaron Snowdon and Petty Officer Cadet,  (now Probationary Petty Officer) Alice Spiby receiving their trophies from the Commanding Officer, Captain (SCC) David Scholes RMR.

The Junior Boys team at Rugby Sea Cadets haven taken 1st place again at the Warwickshire District 5-a-Side Football Competition held in Coventry today.

The team, consisting of Ordinary Cadets Ian Payne (Captain), Richard Suddens, Matthew Moseley, Declan McKenna and Cadet Adam Clayton started the tournament with high spirits, having won this competition at the start of the year.

The team will go though to the South West Area 5-a-Side Football Competition in January to be held at HMS Raleigh. They will represent Warwickshire District Sea Cadets alongside the Junior Girls from Redditch Sea Cadets and Senior Girls’ and Senior Boys’ teams from Coventry Sea Cadets.

Junior Boys 5-a-Side Football Team

Rugby Sea Cadet Unit took 3rd Place today in the Warwickshire District Sea Cadet Seamanship Competition held at Shirley Sea Cadet Unit today, Sunday 2nd November 2008.  Just four teams entered this year, from Sutton Coldfield Sea Cadets, Tamworth Sea Cadets, Coventry Sea Cadets and Rugby Sea Cadets.  The competition tested the cadets’ ability to work together as a team in various stances which included chartwork, navigation, rigging, ropework and bends & hitches. The team from Rugby, consisted of:

Leading Cadet Amy Suddens (Team Captain), Able Cadet Dani Parker, Ordinary Cadets Matthew Moseley and Ian Payne, Cadet Adam Clayton and Lance Corporal Ryan Bott. Team reserve Able Cadet Aaron Snowdon was also on hand during the day to support the team.

Scoring was extremely close this year with the following results:

1st – Coventry (159 Points)

2nd – Sutton Coldfield (155 Points)

3rd – Rugby (149 Points)

4th – Tamworth (86.7 Points)

Having won the District Seamanship Competition, Coventry Sea Cadets will go through to the Area Seamanship Competition at Weston Super Mare Unit later on this month. They will represent Warwickshire District and we wish them luck.

2008 Seamanship Team

Below are a few pictures from the National Combined Regatta 2008, held at the Victoria Docks in London:

Pictures courtesy of Lt Cdr (SCC) G. Truelove RNR –

District Officer – Warwickshire District, South West Area.

Way back in May 2008 I put up a post about the Expedition Training Team taking 2nd Place at the Warwickshire District Expedition Challenge held at Cannock Chase in Staffordshire. Well, as you will remember the team from Rugby Sea Cadets came 2nd to Sutton Coldfield Sea Cadet team, but were selected to represent the Warwickshire District at the Area Expedition Challenge, held last weekend.  Teams from the South West Area of England and Wales entered teams of six cadets to compete in various expedition disciplines over the weekend. At the end of a very long and tiring weekend the team from Rugby finished 3rd, which is very commendable.  Well done to the team, which consisted of: Petty Officer Cadet Alice Spiby, Ordinary Cadet Danielle Parker, Cadet Sarah Parsons, Ordinary Cadet Declan McKenna, Marine Cadet 2nd Class Jakk Cope and Cadet Elizabeth Barnes.

Sunday 14th September 2008 brought and e the Warwickshire District .22 Shooting Competition and a 1st for the team from Rugby, made up of Lance Corporal Ryan Bott, Marine Cadets 2nd Class Ted Spiby, James Barber and Ordinary Cadet Christian Nunnally.  The all day competition was hosted by the Rugby Sea Cadet Unit and the TA Centre in Edward Street, Rugby, with indpendent judges from District and Area Level.  being the first to shoot at the range, is never easy as you have to wait all day for the other teams to compete, but once the end of the day came, it was clear that the team from Rugby had done enough to secure 1st Place in the competition and take the trophy for “best shot”, awarded to the cadet that gains the highest score in the competition.  This year Ordinary Cadet Christian Nunnally from Rugby unit, took the “best shot” award.

The results for the competition were as follows:

1st – Rugby (556 Points)

2nd – Tamworth (283 Points)

3rd – Coventry (264 Points)

4th – Redditch (248 Points)

5th – Sutton Coldfield (179 Points)

6th – Evesham (99 Points)

The team from Rugby will go through to the Area Competition in October at HMS Raleigh, Plymouth, to represent Warwickshire District.

Cadets from Rugby Sea Cadet Unit will, this weekend, take part in the Warwickshire District Swimming Regatta, which will be held at the Coventry Sports and Leisure Centre.  The Rugby Sea Cadets will be swimming against cadets from all over Warwickshire and the West Midlands, to include Coventry, Evesham, Nuneaton & Bedworth, Leamington & Warwick, Redditch, Tamworth, Shirley, Stratford and Sutton Coldfield.

On the 4th September I wrote about Marine Cadet 2nd Class Jakk Cope and Cadet Sarah Parsons and how they would represent the South West Area Sea Cadets at the National Combined Regatta 2008, taking part in the Yole, a two person sculling boat.  The pair from Rugby Sea Cadets have done the South West Area Sea Cadets proud by emerging from the competition in 2nd place, against teams from Northern, Eastern, Southern, London and the North West Area Sea Cadets.  Cadets from literally all over the United Kingdom have competed this weekend for various accolades in kayaking, sail, power and pulling boat handling, pulling racing and of course the Yole that Jakk and Sarah won the Silver Medal in.  Jakk and Sarah’s Silver medals helped in securing an overall victory for the South West Area Sea Cadets in the whole Regatta.

Jakk commented on their performance by saying “We competed in a number of races this weekend against the other teams, to decide who would be the winner.  The team from Southern Area Sea Cadets just pipped us to the post, and I’m gutted we didn’t come first, but a Silver Medal is still a great achievement, considering there are around 400 Sea Cadet units in the Country.”

Jakk and Sarah are both looking forward to competing at District level again next June where they will compete against cadet units locally, with the hope of getting through to the National Competition again.

Pictured: MC2 Jakk Cope, Commander N. Hinch RN (South West Area Officer) and CDT Sarah Parsons

Marine Cadet 2nd Class Jakk Cope and Cadet Sarah Parsons will travel down to London, Victoria Docks this weekend to compete in the National Combined Regatta, against cadets from all over the UK.  Jakk and Sarah earned the right to represent the South West Area having beaten off competition at the Area Combined Regatta in July, down in Bristol.  They will be competing against 5 other teams in the Yole competition.  The Yole is a small 2 person sculling boat, fairly new to the Sea Cadet Corps.  As well as the yole, cadets from all over the South West of England and Wales will be competing in Kayaking, Sail, Pulling and Power Boat Handling and the ever popular Pulling Races.  Everyone wishes Jakk, Sarah and the rest of the South West Area the best of luck.

The Yole