Introduce your children to rugby at a young age with didi rugby classes at The Waie Inn in Crediton, Devon. There are three age groups: 18 months to three years, three to four and four to six.
Our program is designed to get kids active, teach them new skills and improve their co-ordination, speed and balance. It will also help them learn social skills while they have lots of fun in a positive, safe and friendly environment.
These classes are ideal for children living in: Devon and Crediton
The Waie Inn
Zeal Monachorum
Crediton
Devon
EX17 6DF
Ran by didi rugby Devon
Contact Paul Tearle and Gemma Carnegie – 01837 83748
dididevon@didirugby.com
Find a didi rugby class in Devon at Chulmleigh Pavillions
Introduce your children to rugby at a young age with didi rugby classes at Chulmleigh Pavillions in Chulmleigh, Devon. There are three age groups: 18 months to three years, three to four and four to six.
Our program is designed to get kids active, teach them new skills and improve their co-ordination, speed and balance. It will also help them learn social skills while they have lots of fun in a positive, safe and friendly environment.
These classes are ideal for children living in: Devon and Chulmleigh
Chulmleigh Pavillions
Leigh Road
Chulmleigh
Devon
EX18 7JL
Ran by didi rugby Devon
Contact Paul Tearle and Gemma Carnegie – 01837 83748
dididevon@didirugby.com
The launch of didi rugby Devon is just days away and interest in the event has been ‘absolutely tremendous’ according to franchise partner Paul Tearle.
The launch takes place at Crediton RFC on Saturday 19 February with taster classes for all three didi age groups from 18 months up to 6 years of age.
Special guests on the day will be former England Women’s international, founder and CEO of didi rugby, Vicky Macqueen and local hero, Wayne Reed.
Vicky has an impressive CV and continues to develop it, having just taken on the role of Leicester Tigers women’s head coach.
Crediton RFC
Wayne has played rugby for Crediton RFC since he was a junior. In between then and now he has played for both Exeter and Plymouth whilst making numerous appearances for Devon.
Just as he thought his rugby career had peaked, a turn of events lead him to qualify to play for England deaf and he represented his country in a number of internationals.
Paul said: “We are privileged to have both guests at the event and the response we have had from the local community has been absolutely tremendous.
“We have had to extend some of our taster sessions and have now began taking bookings for our weekly sessions in March.
didi Devon
“The sport of rugby and the county of Devon have been synonymous with each other since the beginning of time.. and that has been proven once again with the numbers we have coming to our didi rugby launch.”
Paul says the didi Devon team are also grateful to host club Crediton RFC who, he says, have been incredibly supportive in the build-up to the launch.
Crediton RFC has seen a number of high-profile names come through the ranks including current Bath DoR, Stuart Hooper, Exeter Chiefs club captain, Jack Yeandle and the lesser known but hugely impressive Paul Harris. Paul has been recognised by England Rugby with their ‘President’s Value the Volunteer Outstanding Contribution Award’ for 50 years of service to the club.
“Crediton is proud of its ethos to the game and wants to include as many people as possible,” added Paul.
“As well as men’s and women’s teams, it supports hundreds of children from U9s through to U16s in both the boys’ and girls’ game under a club slogan of ‘One Big Club’.
Local venues
“And with that philosophy, they have welcomed didi rugby to allow more people to get involved in our wonderful game.
“I would like to thank Chairperson, Liz Goodman and committee member Jay Harris, for being particularly supportive in getting us up and running there.”
While Crediton RFC will be didi rugby Devon’s main hub, they will also be running satellite sessions across other local venues throughout the week.
The Waie Inn at Zeal Monochrum as well as Chumleigh Pavilions will run sessions on Wednesday mornings and afternoons respectively, with coach and PE teacher Dalton Dumont.
While on the other side of Crediton, Heathcoat Hall in Tiverton will be running on a Thursday with lead coach Andy Drayton.
The week culminates with a Saturday morning session of all three age groups run by lead coaches Andy Drayton and Steph Sansom.
For exact dates and times of all classes, contact dididevon@didirugby.com.
New didi rugby South Wales owner Jasmine Joyce is not only enjoying packed didi classes and happy children’s faces, her own playing career is also flying high too.
The Welsh Rugby Union has awarded 12 of the national women’s team a 12-month contract for the first time in history. It was no surprise to anyone at didi HQ when Jaz was in that selected group.
This contract will give Jaz and her 11 other team mates more time to dedicate to their playing careers.
Jasmine Joyce
Passing on her congratulations to her Welsh team mates on social media, Jaz said: “This is such an exciting year for women’s rugby in Wales.”
It has been a long journey to the top for didi rugby South Wales’ lead coach Jasmine, who began playing rugby at the age of seven and ignored those who thought she was “too small” for the sport.
At the age of 12, she started playing for Haverfordwest RFC and joined the ladies youth team. In 2015, she was selected to play for the Wales women’s national rugby sevens team for the Dubai Sevens tournament.
Since then, she has gained 20 caps for Wales having made her debut in 2017 against Scotland. She has also played for Wales Sevens on numerous occasions and represented Team GB at the 2016 Olympics in Rio and 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Jasmine was also ranked 3rd in the Guardian’s list of Players of the Year in 2021, described as ‘a trailblazer for women’s rugby, in every sense’.
didi rugby South Wales takeover
Having taking over the leadership of didi rugby South Wales from fellow international Robyn Lock at the end of last year, Jaz now drives 16 classes a week in five different South Wales locations.
didi rugby South Wales classes are flying high!
To get your children involved in didi rugby classes, visit our ‘Find a class’ page.
didi rugby are delighted to announce a new partnership with influential group ‘Working With Parents in Sport’ (WWPIS).
WWPIS supports organisations, parents and coaches in working together to provide children with the best possible sporting experiences.
Based in the UK, they work with sporting organisations on a global basis and provide unbiased information that understands the difficulties that parents and coaches face in today’s world.
didi rugby’s partnership with WWPIS sees both parties come together to provide the young children and parents, who support didi classes, the opportunity to purchase customised ‘Our Sporting Journey’ books.
The books, which will be available soon, have been tailored for those specifically involved in the didi rugby programme and will encourage plenty of activity and interaction away from the classes, thus furthering their sporting education.
The ‘Our Sporting Journey’ series for didi minis (18 months to 3 years old), didi juniors (3 to 4 years old) and didi seniors (5 to 6 years old) incorporates two sporting years in each book with the cricket versions of the books likely due out later this year.
Our Sporting Journey
‘Our Sporting Journey’ is a series of interactive books for children, putting them at the heart of the sporting experience. They allow them to have plenty of fun, grow as people both on and off the field and immerse themselves in their sporting experience as they progress through their sporting journey.
The books all have plenty of activities for children and encourage positive interaction between children and their parents. They involve plenty of parental involvement, whether that be in having positive conversations, playing in the garden or helping to stick in the pictures that will allow everyone to build up a memory book that will last a lifetime.
Our Sporting Journey
didi rugby founder and CEO Vicky Macqueen said it was a very exciting collaboration with WWPIS.
“We fully believe that our values and ethos as didi rugby are fully in-line with the wonderful work that WWPIS do.
Physically active
“We are all keen to get children and parents involved, at an early age, of realising the benefits that are to be gained from being physically active.
“This partnership will enable us to influence more families to get involved in physical activities from the age of our early didi classes (18 months) upwards.
“WWPIS have being doing some amazing work and, like us, are keen to promote healthy and active lifestyles, so we are delighted to be able to link up with them on this project.”
Gordon MacLelland, CEO of Working With Parents in Sport, said: ‘It is really exciting to be working with the didi team.
Involved in sport
“It is so important that children have the very best experiences of sport from the youngest ages, so they remain involved in sport and physical activity throughout their childhoods and into adulthood.
“Vicky and her didi rugby team are doing excellent work in this area and we hope the support that we can provide will further enhance their programmes.’
didi rugby are delighted to announce that children’s cancer charity Jessica’s Arc will be our official chosen charity.
Jessica’s Arc is one of the ‘arcs’ within Alice’s Arc, a charity launched to raise funds for funding research and finding a cure and less harsh treatments for rhabdomyosarcoma – a cancerous tumour that develops in the body’s soft tissues and mostly effects children and adolescents.
It is a battle that is very close to CEO Vicky Macqueen’s heart after her niece Jessica Macqueen died aged nine after a very short fight with the disease, just five months from diagnosis to passing away.
Vicky said: “The heartbreaking devastation of the loss of a nine-year-old to rhabdomyosarcoma has been hideous for the whole family and community.
Cancer
“For us to find out more about the cancer is now crucial to protect other families. It’s so underfunded at the minute and Jess didn’t really stand a chance with the lack of large scale investment in treatment for this rare disease.
“We are 100 per cent behind it and anything we can do to prevent this kind of heartache for future families to go through.
“That’s really important to me as one of Jess’ family members and also as CEO of a children’s activities company too.
“And it is super important to my brother and sister-in-law who lost their daughter.
rhabdomyosarcoma
“So didi rugby is officially taking on Jessica’s Arc as our chosen charity and we want to make a big impact on cancer research in this area.
“We will be delighted if anyone that can contribute to our cause.”
didi rugby will be hosting a series of fund-raising events in 2022 with a very exciting competition to follow later this month.
Jessica’s Arc will be sending any funds in its early stages, to Alice’s Arc.
Childhood cancer is the number 1 killer of children under the age of 14.
Over 4 new drugs have been approved in the last 20 years to treat childhood cancer.
Book a didi rugby birthday party in the Devon area
Are you looking for somewhere to celebrate your child’s birthday in a safe, fun and sporty environment?
Do you want your little ones to be active, involved and having a laugh with their friends?
didi rugby birthday parties are a great way for us to put a smile on your child’s face on their special day in the didi rugby Devon area. They are ideal for anyone living in: Devon.
Your choice of venue anywhere in the Devon didi rugby area
Find a didi rugby class in Devon at Crediton Rugby Football Club
Introduce your children to rugby at a young age with didi rugby classes at Crediton Rugby Football Club in Crediton, Devon. There are three age groups: 18 months to three years, three to four and four to six.
Our program is designed to get kids active, teach them new skills and improve their co-ordination, speed and balance. It will also help them learn social skills while they have lots of fun in a positive, safe and friendly environment.
These classes are ideal for children living in: Devon and Crediton
Crediton Rugby Football Club
Exhibition Road
Crediton
Devon
EX17 1EP
Ran by didi rugby Devon
Contact Paul Tearle and Gemma Carnegie – 01837 83748
dididevon@didirugby.com
To book your FREE taster session for the launch, open the grid below on Saturday 19 February…
I started playing rugby as an Under-11 inspired by my peers when I started secondary school.
Since then, I have been a two-club man all my life and been part of Crediton RFC and Sheffield Tigers RFC at various times in my life.
Now back at Crediton, I’m threatening to put my boots back on at some point!
I work as the PE teacher in the local comprehensive school and we have built fantastic links between the school and the club, sharing facilities, coaches and creating a pathway for those that enjoy the game at school and want to develop further at the club.
As a teacher, I was certainly ‘Jack of all trades’ rather than a specialist, having had national level experience in both athletics and volleyball, as well as local level basketball and football as I grew up. Those sports were always threaded between playing rugby throughout my life.
In addition to teaching, I have 20 years of experience working at a successful holiday camp for children aged 3-15 too.
Over the last 10 years, I have run that business and was delighted when it was rated as ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted in our last inspection.
Having met many inspirational people through the sport of rugby, the opportunity to be involved with didi rugby materialised through meeting people with a shared passion for the game and its values.
Integrating my background of teaching and business and love for the game made it an easy decision to take on a didi franchise in the hot-bed of rugby here in Devon.
With two primary-aged children of my own, I am familiar with the challenges of parenting and getting involved with didi will offer many parents locally another outlet for children to develop and flourish in a safe and positive environment.
About Gemma Carnegie
Degree from University of Brighton
Head of PE at a secondary school.
Teaching for 20 years
Rugby player for 20 years… fly-half,
Favourite player – Johnny Wilkinson!
Fantastic role model for women’s and girls rugby.
Hobbies include anything active, hiking, climbing.
Strong advocate of England Rugby’s Core Values of Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship.
The new team at didi rugby Blackburn and Ribble Valley are getting classes across their area into full swing this term.
Following a successful launch back in December 2021, sessions are now running at Clitheroe RFC and Mellor Village Hall and Field, Blackburn (see below for booking details).
New classes will also begin at Pleckgate High School Dance Studio in Blackburn from Saturday 12 February (see below for booking link).
Sessions are for children aged 18 months to 6 years of age.
James O’Ryan (left) and Vicky Macqueen at the launch of didi rugby Blackburn and Ribble Valley.
The classes are run by the rugby fanatic O’Ryan family: John, James and Sam.
They are all determined to spread their love and passion for the sport, encouraging young children to get involved, get active, build confidence and most importantly, have fun.
didi rugby Blackburn and Ribble Valley
“It’s been really exciting. We’ve had so much fun building and planning for it.” James said.
“It has been weeks in the planning process and we’re so happy classes are now up and running!”
John has twice received commendations from the Rugby Union for his services to community rugby for mini and youth engagement and for engagement and for promotion of girl’s rugby opportunities.
“I’ve been coaching for about 15 years in all different age groups” he said.
Clitheroe RFC
“I’ve been embedded in the Blackburn and Clitheroe area, helping out at all the schools and different coaching facilities we have here.”
didi rugby CEO, Vicky Macqueen, attended the launch and said: “I have been so impressed the level of planning that has gone into this. The amount of effort the guys have put into the launch is amazing.
“Now regular classes are up and running, I am certain John, James and Sam will do a great job of introducing our wonderful sport to youngsters in the area.”
To find out more about attending classes, visit our ‘find a class’ page to book your free taster session at any of our venues.
