wimbledon
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Inclusive Rugby comes to
Wimbledon RFC
Wimbledon rugby has a long and proud
history. Founded way back in 1865 this
year has seen many celebrations of their
150th anniversary. They are also pleased
to record a much more recent milestone.
This was the end of their first season
running an Inclusive Rugby group as part
of their mini & youth offer.
The Inclusive Rugby group provides
coaching to children with Special
Educational Needs (SEN) and disabilities.
They run the group alongside the rest of
their minis just like any other age group.
John Woods the development manager
at the club said, “we heard about an
organization called inclusive rugby, and
invited Craig McIntosh to come over and
tell us all about it. Once we heard more
we put it to our minis group and they
just said ‘why wouldn’t we get involved
in something as good as this?’ We firmly
believe rugby has something to offer
above other sports and is a real force for
good so it follows we should make it
available to as many children as possible.
“We started small but expect it to grow
and grow. The children and the parent’s
just love it and it is such a fantastic and
enjoyable group to be involved in we have
no doubt it will remain part of our Sunday
morning sessions for as long as we’re still
here.”
One of the first members of the coaching
squad to put his hand up to help was
Edward Beale who, with help from his son
Tim has become the groups Head Coach.
Edward says, “we basically run a tag rugby
session like any other. We try and vary the
drill as much a possible and keep them
short so the players don’t lose interest but
we always have a ball in hand and promote
the core values of rugby just like we do for
our U6s or our U18s.”
One of the very first players to sign up was
Louis. John wasted no time in roping his
Mum Hannah in to help out. Hannah told
us, “we were already attending the club on
Sunday mornings as Louis’s brother played
in one of the other groups. As a family we
were really pleased to hear about this new
group and offered our support immediately.
“Louis loves the sessions and really looks
forward to it. He has noticeably improved
during the course of the season, not just
his motor skills, although I am proud
to say he does make a pretty good spin
pass but also his communication and
social skills. Much more importantly he
just enjoys it. For me it’s great to just go
to sports club with Louis and his brother
like anyone else. We’re not singled out
for special treatment or given a separate
afternoon we just turn up and get stuck in
like everyone else.”
Another member of the starting team
was Stephane Laventure. Steph has been
a player and coach at the club for more
years than he wants to own up to. His
own youth group having passed out a
couple of years back Steph now helps out
wherever he’s needed and that’s often
with the Inclusive group.
Steph, who is also head of sport at a
local school, says, “I don’t think of it as
running a ‘special’ group of any kind I
just run a coaching session. It is enormous
fun and the kids have come on so much
you can’t help but feel proud of them.
Communication is key at all levels of
the game and frankly the inclusive lot
often respond quicker to new drills and
moves than some of my youth teams.
I’m definitely signed up for next year
and can’t wait to see the players back in
September with hopefully a few new ones
to enjoy the fun.”
So already being able to boast they were
a founder member of the RFU Wimbledon
can now lay claim to being one of the first
clubs in the area to offer inclusive rugby.
They are keen to sign up new players and
happy to share their experience with any
other clubs who want to start their own
group.
If you want to get in touch e-mail [email protected]
28 Issue 57
www.inclusiverugby.co.uk