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Former Italian international Roland De Marigny has become didi rugby Italy’s first ambassador.

And didi rugby is absolutely delighted to welcome him onboard.

Roland has played top-flight rugby in England, Wales, South Africa and Italy.

Born in Durban, South Africa, he played international rugby for Italy after qualifying on residency grounds (he played for five years in the Italian league).

He made his international debut in 2004 against England and made his first start against France the following week. Roland went on to make 19 appearances for the Azzurri.

He is now heavily involved in helping guide Colorno’s rise through the domestic ranks and says he is excited to get involved in nurturing the next generation of Colorno players through didi rugby.

“I am very proud to present didi rugby, which has become part of our programme here in Colorno,” he said.

“didi rugby is about values, sharing and having fun. It’s about learning respect, being part of a team and being part of creating something.

“I am really looking forward to didi rugby coming to Italy and Colorno and for giving the youth of Italian rugby this wonderful opportunity.”

didi rugby founder and CEO Vicky Macqueen has delivered an ‘inspirational’ speech to Year 3 students at Leicester Medical School.

Following an invite from Dr John Harrison, the Associate Professor in Medical Education at Leicester Medical School, Vicky spoke about her own international sporting career with England as well as life as a successful business woman after hanging up her boots.

Vicky was one of a series of guest speakers invited to address medical students in the four-week spell after their exams.

The idea is to help the University of Leicester pupils gain as much information as possible about the variety of different careers they could go into after they leave and look for work.

“It was very inspirational,” said Dr Harrison. “She talked about her own career and was superb at talking about goal-setting and how it has helped her in her life.

“She was absolutely brilliant and she speaks with great enthusiasm. The students loved it and she gave them a lot of things to think about.

“Vicky has been a highly successful teacher, player and coach – and now she is a successful businesswoman too. I am full of admiration for her.

England Women’s international Heather Fisher says she “can’t wait” to be a part of didi rugby’s Annual Presentation Day.

The event will take place in Leicestershire at Hinckley Rugby Club – one of didi rugby’s partner clubs – on Sunday 7 July with all sorts of fun and games planned for what promises to be a spectacular day.

Back-rower Heather has been a didi rugby ambassador since the early days of the organisation and says she is really keen to come and meet the children, parents, coaches and franchise owners that are coming from all over the area.

The World Cup winner fully knows the value of sport and looking up to role models after overcoming some personal hardships as a youngster.

“Sport was the tool which kept me on the straight and narrow as a child,” said Heather. “There were role models I could look up to and it gave me the inspiration to try and prove to people that I could be someone.

“It also saved me from anorexia and it showed me that one voice to could make a massive different to a child – and that voice was not necessarily a parent or a relative.

“Sport and programmes like didi rugby give children confidence and keeps them active. If you can increase a child’s confidence, the rest tends to take care of itself.

“It’s important to remember that with self-confidence, kids believe they can be someone.

didi rugby coach Carmel Elliott says she would recommend her role to anyone who loves having fun with kids.

The student got into didi rugby coaching after helping a friend out and now says she “could not imagine life without it”.

Carmel, who is part of the Lichfield team, says: “I absolutely love it. I love it because I am a big kid at heart. With didi rugby, I get the chance to go crazy and involve everyone in the sessions – and that makes it so much better.

“I have been doing it for 18 months and I could not imagine life without it. I have been working with Vicky Macqueen, Mollie Latham and Ros Wiggins and they are great to work with.

“I love the CPD that we do with other coaches and we always share ideas about best practice. The interaction we have as a group of coaches around the UK is fantastic and gives a real family feel to what we do.

“I would recommend didi coaching to anyone with a drive, passion and love for what they do.”

The head coach of didi rugby Cobham, Vicky Alexander is inviting you to come and join all of the fun of a franchise launch day on Sunday 9 June.

Taking place at host venue, Cobham RFC, there will be loads of activities available to get your child active, having fun and making new friends.

The launch is something that the former Wasps and Richmond player, as well as everyone at Cobham RFC, is very much looking forward to because the didi rugby values fit in perfectly with what the club is trying to achieve in its community.

“I am really excited to be launching our new franchise with didi rugby,” said Vicky. “It will get underway at 9.30am so please book your child’s place and come down with them to see what didi rugby Cobham is all about.

“I am looking forward to seeing you there.”

“After the launch, we will be holding regular Sunday sessions at the club from 9.30am and will be involving children from 18 months to six years of age.”

didi rugby founder and CEO Vicky Macqueen will also be there. “Franchise launches are always great fun and our mascots Dougie and Daisy will be getting involved too,” she said.

“It’s exciting that Vicky and Cobham are nearly there now. I know how hard they have worked to get everything in place for this and we want to make it a day to remember for everyone who comes to join in.”

Book your child’s place at the launch of didi rugby Cobham by clicking here

didi rugby has launched classes in Italy.

Following a trip to Colorno Rugby in May, which saw founder and CEO Vicky Macqueen host a didi rugby session to excited youngsters, regular classes will begin in the next few weeks.

A partnership has been put in place with Colorno Rugby and the club’s English director of rugby, Nick Scott will be driving didi’s growth in and around the local with support from an experienced and committed staff.

Colorno is situated near Parma in the north of the country – a real hotbed for the sport – and is a club which shares the same values that didi rugby has been built on.

Vicky said she was absolutely delighted to be taking the values of fun, confidence and activity to a country which has beautiful scenery and passionate people.

“It is tremendously exciting to be launching didi rugby in another country – especially one that is as passionate for the game as Italy,” she added.

“It was a pleasure to meet club staff and parents at Colorno on our visit and great to see the energy provided by the local children who took part in our demo session.

Mascots Dougie and Daisy will be joining in the fun when didi rugby Lutterworth holds a re-launch on Saturday 22 June.

The classes will take place at Lutterworth Rugby Club in the morning from 9.30am and will be run by new franchise manager Dom Osborn.

Dom knows the set-up very well having seen her daughter Victoria enjoy didi rugby classes from a young age.

And the Lutterworth classes will form part of Dom’s new south west Leicestershire area.

She is a PE teacher by trade and spends her days getting children active and having fun so her involvement in didi rugby will be an extension of what comes naturally.

The classes will cover all three didi rugby age groups from 18 months to 3 years, from 3 to 4 years and from 4 to 6 years.

didi rugby founder and CEO Vicky Macqueen says she is delighted to get someone with Dom’s passion involved in an area which is a hotbed of rugby in Leicestershire.

“I have known Don for a long while and am convinced that she will make a great success of her new coaching area,” said Vicky.

“She is keen to get as many children as possible active and having fun while gaining in confidence and starting on a healthy physical activity plan.”

Lutterworth Rugby Club is situated on Ashby Lane, Bitteswell, Leicestershire, LE17 4LW.

didi rugby Gloucestershire has celebrated its first birthday in style.

Having launched last summer in Lydney, Gloucestershire has grown to four centres now and is reaching more and more of the county’s children.

Part run by former England Women’s rugby international, Susie Appleby, the classes have grown in size and popularity across all three of the didi age groups.

And featured in this video are happy children from Gloucestershire’s newest centre at Longlevens RFC enjoying a break from their class during the birthday celebrations to do a lovely rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’!

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.