CH Rugby Ltd and Clare Swadling, Minis lead & U6s coach & Paul Coldman U7s coach at Reading Rugby Club – Reading RFC delivered a day of rugby activity to schools in the Whitley Excellence Cluster, hosted by Geoffrey Field Junior School, Whitley, Reading.
Children from Geoffrey Field infants Geoffrey Field Infant School – Home / Geoffrey Field Junior school Geoffrey Field Junior School – Home / New Christ Church Home | New Christ Church Church of England Primary School / Ridgeway Infants & Juniors Home | The Ridgeway Primary School / Lambs Lane Lambs Lane Primary School – and Whitley Park Whitley Park Primary and Nursery School – Home took part in didi rugby for KS1 during the morning & tag rugby for KS2 during the afternoon.
The event was jointly supported by CH Rugby, Reading RFC, Reading Rugby Foundation HOME who generously funded the trophies and medals for the tag rugby sessions in the afternoon, and supported by SecureCloud+ Technology partners to defence agencies and organisations represented by Tim Bell, who kindly donated boot bags for all the participants and staff, which was greatly appreciated by all.
Tim said on behalf of SecureCloud + “ SecureCloud+ were delighted to support Craig Hunter and his team at CH Rugby Limited, delivering a day of rugby activity to schools in the Whitley Excellence Cluster held at Geoffrey Park School. It was clear to see that the children from all six schools thoroughly enjoyed a great day, with it being a safe and well organised Tournament, clearly showing that the work CH Rugby carries out in local schools, is both inclusive, and promotes sport for all. I hope the donations of boot bags from SecureCloud+, to all that participated, will bring happiness to all the children in their sporting journey.”
Clare, added “Paul and I had the pleasure of refereeing a group of incredible children at the Whitley Excellence Cluster tag rugby event. It was a very mixed bag of abilities, skill levels and understanding of the game, but the children had great fun, and all left with beaming smiles on their faces. Which was the main emphasis of the day.
I took care, and refereed Year 4s, Paul looked after Year 6 children. We talked briefly at the start about having the confidence to keep running until they had a tag taken from them. It took them a little while for this to sink in, but once they realised they had extra ‘lives’ they just threw themselves into the spirit of the game. The best thing for me was looking at their surprised faces when they scored a try. Such a lovely afternoon. Paul had the privilege to award the Referee award for the player who stood out on the day, to a young girl from Whitley Park School, fantastic!!”
Dave Marks, Deputy Head of Geoffrey Field Junior School, said, “We are once again indebted to the CH Rugby and supported by Reading RFC and the Reading Rugby Foundation for hosting a superb tournament for the primary schools of Whitley, engaging over 100 children in some competitive but good-natured rugby. The addition of Didi-Rugby to the morning of the tournament also allowed our key stage one pupils to experience the joys of rugby, many for the first time. We are really proud of how the flourishing sporting partnership between the Whitley Excellence Cluster (WEC) and our local Rugby Foundations has helped engage and inspire our pupils.
Craig Hunter, CH Rugby, commented “once again we had the pleasure of supporting the WEC didi rugby & tag festival, a thoroughly enjoyable day and highly impressed with the children who took part in the day’s activities. Each school went away with a Trophy based on Rugby Core Values – Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship. Well done all.”
Mike Huggan Chairman of Reading Rugby Foundation added “RRF were delighted to support Craig and all at CH Rugby Ltd with funds provided for trophies and medals presented on the day. Although I was unable to attend on the day it is obvious that a great day was enjoyed by all involved. The Foundation was started to promote inclusive and community participation in the sport of Rugby by providing grants for events such as this. We welcome applications for help with funding such as this. This event was a great success, thanks to all involved.”
If any schools in the Reading and surrounding areas are interested in having similar rugby taster sessions at your school, please email Donna Clark dclarkchrugbyltd@gmail.com or Clare Swadling cswadlingchrugbyltd@gmail.com and we will make contact to discuss further.
