Reading RFC Archives

March 28, 2022March 28, 2022

didi rugby is a family tradition for the Dearing family

Two boys, Jacob and Harrison Dearing, in a green and white top and a red top smile with a rugby ball

Harrison Dearing is carrying on the family tradition and is thriving at didi rugby classes.

The three-year-old is having great fun taking part in didi rugby Reading sessions at Highwood Primary School, following in the footsteps of his older brother.

Jacob Dearing (6) spent over two years in didi classes having got involved as a three-year-old himself.

Now, he has taken the skills and confidence he learned at didi and is putting it to good use in the minis structure at partner club Reading RFC.

A young boy in a green hoodie holds a 'player of the week' certificate aloft — Jacob Dearing

Whether Harrison will follow him when he becomes too old for didi classes remains to be seen. But for now, mum Karen is just happy they have both benefitted from what the didi classes offer.

“Jacob always loved running around when he was little and so we tried him at didi rugby after seeing it for the first time at a local fete.

Confidence blossomed

“His confidence quickly blossomed during classes at Blue Coat School, and the classes helped him to focus his energy too. The coaches’ approach was great.

“Jacob never really liked the warm-ups and would just watch for 5 or 10 minutes before joining in. But the coaches always coaxed him to get involved, with no pressure and, after a while, he just got stuck in straightaway.

“Now, Jacob has moved up, it has been great to see him playing at Reading RFC and he’s loving it. There have been lots of his didi class move up to Reading so he’s already got friends moving up with him.

“The other week he came to watch Harrison at didi and still joined in!

Family time for the Dearings

“Taking them has been something nice to do as a family too. We would all go to watch Jacob when he first started and, inevitably, when we had his younger brother Harrison, he wanted to join in too.

“Harrison loved getting involved in the Zoom sessions that didi did during lockdown and now he’s loving the classes in person.

A you g boy in a red tee-shirt and sun hat smiles while holding a rugby ball — Harrison Dearing

“He was shy to begin with but he loves getting involved and games like ‘foxes tails’ and the ‘obstacle course’.

“Both boys have loved collecting the coloured objects and taking them to the correct bucket. Harrison will count how many he’s got before he puts them in, providing colour recognition and numeracy in one!

“The boys have both loved their classes and their coaches. They are a really nice group of people at didi and have been great with both boys.”

Two boys in rugby shirts smile with rugby balls in their hands — Jacob (left) and Harrison Dearing

WATCH: didi rugby Reading coaches love their ‘hilarious classes’…

February 10, 2020

A dozen didi rugby Reading children join Reading RFC minis

A dozen didi rugby stars in a group at Reading RFC

Reading RFC minis have received a huge boost in playing numbers with a dozen children joining the club having graduated from didi rugby classes in the area.

A huge part of didi rugby’s ethos is to make formal links with local clubs to provide a seamless pathway for children to continue playing the game after they become too old for didi rugby classes.

Not only does it provide our didi stars a chance to move straight into tag rugby, it also gives local clubs a stream of youngsters coming into their minis set-up with the skills and confidence already there to hit the ground running.

didi rugby Reading have links with many clubs in Berkshire and their latest group to move up to Under-7s rugby at Reading RFC has delighted everyone involved.

Reading RFC

didi rugby Reading’s Craig Hunter said he was ‘delighted’ to see so many graduates move up to Reading RFC after a couple of children made the move their previous year.

“It’s great to see them want to carry on their rugby experience and the 12 of them have already gelled nicely up at Reading,” said Craig.

“Their parents are pleased and we have had really good feedback from Reading too so it’s lovely to see the numbers we are providing them increasing.”

didi rugby Reading franchise owners Donna Clark and Craig Hunter coach at Aldermaston RFC — didi rugby Reading’s Craig Hunter (right)

didi rugby founder and CEO Vicky Macqueen said this was another example of didi rugby classes working well with their local communities.

“It is important for all of us at didi rugby to support the local community as much as we can and the partnerships we create with local clubs are very important to what we are trying to do,” she said.

“Here are 12 children who have come through the didi rugby set-up and are now too old for our ‘seniors’ classes. So it’s heart-warming to see them move up to a partner club like Reading and know they are in safe hands to continue learning, having fun, growing in confidence and building up that camaraderie that rugby provides.

Developing skills

“Craig, Donna, Clare and the rest of the team at our didi rugby Reading classes have done a great job of capturing these children’s imagination and developing their skills and confidence over the past couple of years.

“We will all be watching their kids’ progress with Reading RFC and wish them all the best of luck. We are always very proud of our didi rugby graduates.”

Watch didi rugby Reading coaches Donna and Clare explain why they have so much fun during their classes…

September 26, 2019February 17, 2020

Find a didi rugby class in Reading

About didi rugby Reading

Contact Craig Hunter – 07798 844202
craig.hunter@didirugby.com

Craig Hunter Head Coach – didi rugby Reading

Craig was involved with football ever since he can remember and playing rugby was not really on the radar until the latter part of his time at secondary school, when he joined Reading RFC as a 14-year-old.

That was over four decades ago. Since then, he has been fortunate enough to play for Reading RFC from Under-15s through to Colts and 1st XV level and has also represented Berkshire at Colts level too.

He retired from playing due to injury but continued his connection and has been part of running the club in many capacities, mostly in a voluntary capacity.

He had the privilege of being club chairman for five years and over the last three years, he has held the post of youth chairman; this most recent role is something he really enjoyed; watching the young future players learning to develop and love the sport.

Over this time he has witnessed how rugby and its core values, TREDS – Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship – have literally changed lives and created life-long friendships, not only at Reading but across the world. His recent trip to New Zealand to watch the British & Irish Lions reinforced this!

A few words from Craig

“At Reading RFC, we provide many variations of the game for boys, girls, men and women – the latter through a highly successful girls section, which is growing all the time.

Over the last few years, we have added Walking Rugby, and currently I am involved in developing Berkshire Banshees Wheelchair Rugby Club, for the county of Berkshire and surrounding areas.

Like many clubs, we provide youth rugby from the age of Under-6, however one area we have not managed to cater for is the Under-5s – until now that is.

Having been introduced to Vicky Macqueen and didi rugby, I firmly believe what she is offering is an excellent developmental programme for children from 18 months through, until they start at Under-6s or Under-7s at club rugby.”