Best day ever at Wooden Spoon disability Tag Festival
Rugby players with special educational needs enjoyed a weekend of rugby at the Wooden Spoon International Tag Rugby Festival.
Paula Morgan was packing her ten-year-old daughter Summa’s Thanet Lions rugby kit ready for their weekend tag festival in Coventry.
“The team has free tour kit and hoodies and the travel and accommodation from Friday to Sunday are funded. The kids are all so excited and I think the coaches are even more so,” said Paula.
The club sent an Under 15s and an Over 15s team to the Wooden Spoon Disability Tag Festival at Broadstreet Rugby Club.
“Summa’s school only has 36 pupils, with seven in her class. Since Thanet Wanderers set up their tag for SEN pupils it has been phenomenal, she’s made so many friends and it’s been fantastic. Rugby has been a big family for us,” said Paula.
“I always watched rugby and my older son played at Thanet as a child. but I didn’t think that was something Summa could ever do. She absolutely loves it and it’s made such a difference.”
Thanet RFC had funding from Wooden Spoon and fundraised to give the youngsters and their families a free tour opportunity.
Coach Andy Bull said: “Summa scored her first competitive try during one of our games which was among the highlights of the weekend for everyone.
“From an idea one evening in the clubhouse, with another guy I set up the SEN group because my son Joshua, who has Down’s Syndrome, had no sporting opportunities. Suddenly, we had some 25 kids coming along and to see them playing as a team with their friends, something they’d probably never done, is amazing.
“After two years’ hard work with our SEN programme head coach, Mario Garcia, and coach Vicky Flower who runs our community programme with Mario coaching in local schools, sending two teams to this festival is just fantastic. They are there having fun, representing their club; it’s something I didn’t think would ever happen.”
Now approaching 60, Andy no longer plays but coaches his son Andrew’s U15s, while his other son Noah plays for the club Colts.
Jodie Ounsley supporting disability rugby
The children’s charity of rugby, Wooden Spoon invited Jodie Ounsley to inspire the 23 teams competing from Ballymena Bears and Clontarf Bulls to Stockport All Stars and SouthSEND.
Bull added: “Our Over 15s were short for the last match, so Jodie was roped in to play for us. We presented her with a club shirt afterward which she promised to frame and hang on her wall!”
For Under and Over 15s with mild and severe learning disabilities and with the help of supporters Omerta and Valencia Waste, the festival marked the start of Wooden Spoon’s broader initiative to expand the disability rugby scene across the UK and Ireland, which Jodie wanted to get behind, believing that obstacles can be turned into stepping stones to success.
The festival kicked off with a warm-up session led by Wooden Spoon volunteers before an amazing day of tag rugby.
Summa said: “It was the best day ever!”
Everyone agreed as the 23 teams from the following clubs had a great time: Ballymena Bears, Berkshire Brigands, Clontarf Bulls, Crusaders Fin Club, Shropshire Rebels, Harlow, Chelmsford, Old Leamingtonians, KINGSWOOD AIR, Leicester Tigers, Mallow Barbarians, Oxfordshire Wolves, SouthSEND, Stockport All Stars, Thanet Lions, Trinty Titans, Westmanstown Wasps.
