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Excited children from four schools in Cheshire had a blast when didi rugby Crewe & Nantwich held its first schools festival.

Tarporley High School was the venue for an afternoon of fun and activity based around the core values of didi rugby, which is now growing at a rapid rate in the north west of England.

Schools taking part in the event were: Tarvin Primary, Bunbury Aldersey Primary, Eaton Primary and Delamere Primary.

Katie Heirene, the owner of the didi rugby franchise in Crewe & Nantwich said it was a pleasure to see so many Key Stage 1 children playing rugby-based games and enjoying themselves.

“The event took place after school and all of the children taking part were brought to Tarporley High School by their parents, who stayed to watch and support their kids,” said Katie.

“We split them into groups and did warm-ups, evasion games, obstacle courses and had a skills zone to teach things like catching and handling.

“At the end, we gave out some awards out for traits that are core values of both the Rugby Union (RFU) and didi rugby, like sportsmanship, team work and respect.

“The teachers and the parents that were there were tremendously supportive too which helped to make the festival such a success.

“It was great that KS1 pupils were able to come to an event off-site and play a sport which was new to many of them and one which they seemed to really enjoy playing. Not only was it good fun for them, but it will be good for them to get used to playing sport tournaments as they get older.

“I was grateful for the support of five volunteers from the high school, who were all members of the rugby team, and a student teacher during the day.

“And the event wouldn’t have been possible without our partnership with the Sandstone Schools Partnership and their schools sports co-ordinator, Kaeti Breward. The schools which took part were a real credit too.”

The day was the ideal warm-up to a much bigger one that will take place after the summer holidays.

The didi rugby Crewe & Nantwich Festival will take place in school time on Tuesday 24 September and will involve over 200 children from over 25 schools across two days.

Are you involved with a school, pre-school or nursery who would like to benefit from a free didi rugby taster session in your setting? Click here and visit our website to find out how to book one.

Two young twins from Leicestershire have already come an awful long way on their rugby journey.

At last year’s annual didi rugby Presentation Day, twins Alfie and Archie Parr ‘graduated’ after years in the didi programme.

They joined partner club Hinckley Rugby Club to continue their rugby journey and have just celebrated a wonderful first year in the set-up.

It’s a club that has dozens of former didi pupils in its ranks.

Alfie and Archie’s mum, Clare has paid tribute to the role that didi rugby has had in her boys’ development, not only in terms of the skills they have learned, but also in the confidence and friendships they have made along the way.

“We are so proud of the twins and how far they have come with their confidence and skills since starting didi rugby back in 2015,” she said.

“All of the fantastic activities and experiences they had has fully prepared them for their next step at a big club in the Under-6s.

It was a wonderful experience spreading the values and fun of didi rugby with like-minded people in Italy the other week.

We had been invited to Colorno RFC, near Parma and not only enjoyed some amazing hospitality but also met some children, parents and officials of the club who all shared didi’s values of trying to get youngsters engaged in the fun and friendship our sport provides.

There was a really strong community feel to the place and, I was struck soon after arriving by the fact that both parents and children were clearly heavily involved in the club’s culture.

We were invited over to Colorno by Nick Scott. The former RFU National Coach Development Manager is now the director of rugby at the Italian side and he is also the man that has taken me through my Level 4 coaching qualification so I know him very well.

Soon after arriving, we set up on our didi kit on their pitch and children aged between three and six came down from the local school for a didi rugby taster session.

I have to admit that I was a bit nervous at first because of the language barrier. But didi rugby is so visual and the fact that I was English and they were Italian created no problems whatsoever.

The children were also very excited to see us and hold a rugby ball of their own – and they were even happier when we told them they could keep their rugby ball too at the end of the day.

They were great kids and all of the staff at the club were brilliant too. One of their assistant coaches joined in.

Our session went on for over an hour and it would have gone on for longer if the kids had their way! They never wanted to stop.

didi rugby invites you to its second annual Presentation Day on Sunday 7 July, 2019.

The event will take place at Hinckley Rugby Club in Leicestershire – one of didi rugby’s partner clubs.

Every child who attends a didi rugby class across the country is invited to come along and join in the fun with their parents or carers.

The Presentation Day is free of charge.

The event will get underway at 9.00am with full English breakfasts available (booking details below).

Presentations will then begin from 10.00am with some of didi rugby’s high-profile ambassadors helping to give out certificates of achievement to everyone who attends.

Those ambassadors will also be around to have pictures taken and chat with kids and parents throughout the event.

Franchise owners from around the country will also be there to join in the day’s activities and make it a real #didifamily affair.

Last year’s Presentation Day was a huge success with hundreds of excited children, mums, dads, aunties, uncles, cousins and grandparents all enjoying the day.

A bouncy castle and obstacles courses were just part of the set-up outside to keep all youngsters happy, whatever their age.

Temperatures topped 28 degrees last year and, once again, the sun has been ordered this year!

“Its going to be a really exciting day and we can’t wait to meet you all.

“You do need to secure your place by booking online though.

“It’s completely free and our gift to our loyal members so come along and celebrate with the children the success that they have this year.”

To attend, your child must be attending a didi rugby class anywhere in the country and pre-booking a place is essential. All parents, carers and family members are welcome to come along too.

Book your place at this year’s event here

Breakfast will be served from 9.00am. To reserve either a full English breakfast, including tea or coffee, priced at £5.00 – or a sausage or bacon cob priced at £2.50, email: bar@hinckleyrugby.co.uk with your order and pay on the day.

The driving force behind the launch of didi rugby’s latest franchise, based at Cobham Rugby Club in Surrey, says she was ‘born with a rugby ball in her mouth”!

Vicky Alexander is a New Zealander who came over to England to play women’s Premiership rugby and did so very successfully for both Wasps and Richmond.

When she finished playing, Vicky moved into coaching and, after four years of developing a community set up at the club, she will now be leading didi rugby Cobham with the full support of the host club right behind her.

The launch on Sunday 9 June is something that both Vicky and everyone involved with the club are very much looking forward to because the didi values fit in perfectly with what the club are trying to achieve.

“I was brought up with rugby and in my early years, I didn’t know any other sport existed!” said Vicky. “We are born with a rugby ball in our mouths in New Zealand!

“Children at English schools always go out to play with a football. But I feel so passionately that every child should be given the opportunity to experience rugby because it is such a great sport with great values. We will be giving children that chance through didi rugby.

didi rugby has released a children’s reading book to accompany its learning and activities programme.

Dougie Can Catch tells a tale of a young boy gaining confidence after being encouraged to learn how to catch balls by his friends and family.

The book’s lead character is based on one of didi rugby’s fun-loving mascots, Dougie.

Dougie Can Catch will be making an appearance at classes all over the country in the coming months and will be available to buy soon too.

The book fits in with didi rugby’s core values of teaching children to learn confidence and have fun in a safe, sporting environment.

It has been written by one of didi rugby’s longest-serving franchise holders, Robyn Lock, and beautifully illustrated by Chris Embleton-Hall.

Robyn owns didi rugby South Wales and also plays for the Ospreys Women’s side.

“It’s amazing to see it in print,” she said. “I can’t wait to read it to the children in our classes across Wales.”

I attended a mini rugby festival the other weekend at my local club, Hinckley RFC.

It’s one of the clubs that didi rugby have partnered with to provide a place to send any children that come through the didi ranks when they become too old for our sessions.

It enables us to make sure our didi stars can continue their journey in our wonderful sport with a club that we are sure will continue their development as they grow from six and seven year olds.

The festival was well attended as I expected in a county like Leicestershire where junior and mini rugby flourishes.

What really struck me, however, was the amount of children in the Under-7s section with Hinckley shirts on. They had five teams of eight players entered for the competition and most of them were faces I recognised from didi rugby classes.

It was wonderful to see and I don’t mind admitting that it bought a tear to my eye on several occasions seeing children that I had coached enjoying their rugby, demonstrating some tremendous skills and showing the values of respect, team work and friendship that we hold dearly at didi rugby.

It is certainly not about winning at that age but it was nice to see how well the Hinckley teams were doing and what skills their players were putting on show.

didi rugby founder and CEO Vicky Macqueen is hoping a new children’s book can further promote the values of didi rugby classes.

Dougie Can Catch has been written one of didi rugby’s franchise owners, Robyn Lock, and will be appearing in classes up and down the country in the coming months.

The main character in the book is based on one of didi rugby’s mascots Dougie, who was named after Vicky’s grandfather, so it is no surprise that she is so excited to see it in print.

“It is really special to me and with Dougie being named after my amazing grandfather, it’s so special that his legacy lives on through the book,” she said.

“One of our franchise owners Robyn Lock came up with the idea and it’s great for all of us to see that idea come to life.

“We wanted to produce the book so we can engage with literacy and encourage didi kids to read the book with their parents. Through the storyline, we hope it helps children increase their confidence and want to try and have a go at new things.

The director of school sports activity provider, Coach Unlimited, believes didi rugby is an ‘amazing concept’.

Teresa Hames is a qualified secondary school teacher and is raising two boys of her own.

“I have been following the expansion of didi rugby and it is such an amazing concept on so many level,” she said.

“It is important to teach boys and girls to get active and to teach them fundamental skills in a fun environment.

“It also encourages them to get involved and feel good about being part of something. To feel good about being part of a group and doing well in an active and physical environment.

“All of the staff at didi rugby are doing a great job at encouraging children to be active from an early age.”

The venue for the first didi rugby Cheltenham classes has been announced.

Following a grand launch party at Cheltenham Civil Service RFC on Sunday 5 May, regular classes will take place in Uckington from Sunday 12 May.

New franchise holder Keith Smith says he can’t wait to get started and spread the values of didi rugby to as many children in the area as possible.

“I am a firm believer in kids being active and getting them off their consoles and getting them outside their houses to have fun and play sport. Hopefully, we can get plenty of children involved in the Cheltenham area,” he says.

Keith has a long and proud rugby-playing career behind him with appearances for Gloucester, Lydney, Cinderford and Cheltenham Saracens.

Before setting up didi rugby Cheltenham, Keith was a senior coach with didi rugby Gloucester in Highnam. His experience here inspired him to spread the values of didi rugby to the Cheltenham area and set up his own franchise.

There will be plenty of fun and games at the grand launch party at Cheltenham Civil Service RFC, Tewkesbury Road, Cheltenham, GL51 9SL on 5 May between 10am and midday.

And then Uckington Village Hall will be the venue for regular classes from Sunday 12 May onwards with all three didi rugby age groups being catered for from 10am until midday.

The full address of the venue is: Uckington Village Hall, Uckington, Cheltenham, GL51 9SR.

Book your child in for a free place at the launch of didi rugby Cheltenham at Cheltenham Civil Service RFC by clicking here.