There are a few times in one’s life when you become involved in something that you are not quite sure where it is going to lead you. Many times, a venture will fade away or circumstances combine to render it a failure. Well, the Thanet Wanderers SEND programme could quite easily have been one of those lofty ideas that never really come to fruition. Thank goodness the opposite has proved to be the case.
It was back in 2022 that Jimmy Green and I sat in the Thanet Wanderers clubhouse imagining what it would be like to add a SEND element to the club’s schools and community programme schools and community programme. My interest was due to having a son of 17 years old with Down Syndrome and the lack of sporting opportunities that were available locally. Jimmy’s enthusiasm was from a more professional setting as he is a sports master at The Bradstow School, a local SEND school that caters for the more challenging kids out there.
Wooden Spoon, the rugby charity for children, very quickly became involved as did Inclusive Sport who deliver sports to local children with SEND. Interestingly Wooden Spoon would pop up again in the story two years later.
Money was raised through Sport England, specialist equipment was purchased, and a crew of coaches assembled from both inside and outside of the club. Leading this bunch of merry men and ladies was Mario Garcia, the under 7’s coach at the club who immediately struck up the perfect rapport with the younger ones. Multiple 8-week programmes were run, with numbers reaching 25+ on a Tuesday evening. Easter and summer programmes were run, and it became obvious that there was very much a need for this and for some strange reason that I have still not quite fathomed out, tag rugby seems to deliver something to the children that keeps them coming back for more.
The sessions were always followed by dinner in the clubhouse for the kids, perhaps that was the draw that I hadn’t quite fathomed! If it rained, we would play games inside, same if the ground was too muddy. In the more wintery months, everyone wore illuminated wristbands so that we could spot them if they wandered past the reach of the floodlights.
Everything was progressing nicely, the children were enjoying the sessions, but it soon became very apparent that there was one very important ingredient of the sport missing, competition.
That is where Wooden Spoon re-enters the story. The club's Director of Community Rugby, Vicky Flower, is also an accomplished rugby player in her own right and has played representative rugby for the Wooden Spoon Ladies Vets team. During the various events and matches that she has attended the topic of SEND rugby was raised and she found out about the Wooden Spoon International Tag Festival being held on June 22nd 2024 in Coventry. I received an invite from Matt Mitchell, the Spooner who was organising the event, and just like that we moved from being a Tuesday night SEND programme to a fully-fledged competitive part of Thanet Wanderers RUFC. The kids were excited, the parents more so and the coaches, although feeling a little nervous, were filled with a sense that the last two years have been leading up to this precise moment.
The challenge was then, how do we prepare the kids for the event and how do we get 40 children, parents and coaches there and try not to cost them a penny. The club very quickly stepped in, and a fund-raising lunch was organised and the money raised pretty much filled half the empty bucket. Wooden Spoon then stepped in and incredibly generously helped every club with their travelling and accommodation expenses. The bucket was starting to look fuller and then the CT10 Parochial Charity heard about the tournament and stepped in to top the bucket up pretty much to the brim. Some tough negotiations with kit suppliers, hotels and coach companies ensued and at the beginning of June, we were all booked and ready to go.
All that was left was to get the kids ready to play. From experience, I know that the provision of sport to children with SEND is poor at best and non-existent at worst. To many of the kids who attend our sessions playing as a team is a very new experience and for some the challenge of even stepping into the clubhouse can be a very difficult and daunting thing. ADHD, ASD, ODD, Global Delay, Epilepsy and CP are amongst the challenges that many of the children are faced with and so their preparation for the tournament had to be carefully managed.
Special squad sessions were organised for those who chose to go to the tournament, where the numbers were lower allowing a greater coach-to-child ratio. Playing kit started to arrive, hoodies were produced, and fun games were organised for the kids for the bus.
Friday the 21st of June arrived and the butterflies were definitely fluttering. Everyone arrived at the clubhouse for pre tour pizza and the ceremonial handing out for the kit. The nominated captains, Rory Appleton and Sophia Kelly for the under 15s, and Ashley Cloake for the over 15s, were presented with their playing kit by the head coach Mario Garcia. The captains then presented the kits to each of their squad members. The parents managed a celebratory drink, the coach was packed, and we were off on our big adventure.
A rugby tour wouldn’t be complete without games on the coach and the tour Haribo stash took a hammering on the way up. Luckily there was a pitstop at South Mimms services, so we had an opportunity to restock.
A rather excited coach arrived at our hotel just before 10pm and with the players being tired the bar was unsurprisingly quiet with almost everyone choosing to admit defeat and prepare for the next morning.
Match day arrived, a very hearty breakfast was eaten, our brand-new Lions playing kit was put on and we were ready to go. After a brief 20-minute drive on the tour coach and we arrived and Broadstreet Rugby Club, a very impressive ground with a wonderful clubhouse and just as wonderful a welcome. Gazebos were adeptly put up, goody bags given out and it was time to get the players warmed up.
As if knowing that this day was to be a very special one, the sun decided to shine and didn’t stop for the rest of that day. Wooden Spoon has previously sent all of the teams dance routines to learn for the pre-game warm-up up and various levels of dancing skills were on show, with the players definitely more accomplished than the parents or coaches. The highlight of the morning was undoubtedly the team intros where the team was announced over the PA system and the complete squads would run through a tunnel of Wooden Spoon volunteers to the cheering of the rest of the players and spectators.
The rest of the morning was taken up with some warm-up games which enabled the teams to be properly grouped for their matches which would start after lunch. Even during these early warm-ups, friendships were being forged between the players and the coaches could be seen comparing notes with each other.
Lunches were taken and then it was down to business. Each team played 3 matches of 8 minutes each way with a 2-minute break. For those players who needed extra support, a coach was allowed onto the pitch with them. As you would expect the refereeing was lenient and passing the ball backwards, although a necessary law of the game, was one that was rightly seen as optional.
These were the first competitive games that the Lions had ever played and so the emotions were high not only amongst the players but many of the parents, and especially the coaches were often seen ‘having a moment’ The number of times Mario shed a tear of pride as another of the players scored their debut try were innumerable.
The over 15s were short of players for the whole day but were leant players by the larger squads. We had one boy join us whose mother was born in Thanet and he decided to play with us for the rest of the tournament. In our last match, still a couple of players short, I managed to talk the start guest of the day Jodie Ounsley, former Sale Sharks and Exeter Chiefs player to don a Wanderers shirt and play alongside the boys. Joined by two of the Mums it proved to be the biggest victory of the day. As a thank you, we presented the shirt to Jodie who has promised to have it framed and hung on her wall.
Amazing performances were put in by all the players and the combined results for the two teams were P6, W4, D1 and L1. This was never about the results, but it is a testament to the coaches that they have been able to prepare the squads in a way that made them so competitive in their first-ever matches against another team.
Once all of the games had finished, it was presentation time and each player and coach was given a wonderful Tagfest medal and each team a Wooden Spoon Tagfest trophy.
The music then started, the BBQ was fired up and an evening of dancing, eating, singing and unfortunately for me, face-painting was enjoyed by all. Florence, our resident face painter, applies the face paint with the dexterity and subtlety of a scaffolder, I still carry the bruises.More friendships were forged and plans for next year were made and the coach got us back to the hotel for 9.30pm
A very welcome hearty, carb filled ,breakfast was enjoyed the next morning, coffee drunk by the gallon and our journey home started at 11am and we arrived at the club at around 4pm.
It wasn’t long before the WhatsApp group blew up with photos and funny stories and the fact that many had to wash the playing shirts that night as the kids wanted to wear them to school the next day.
I can honestly say that the weekend was probably one of the most enjoyable and enriching I have ever spent. Watching over 200 children and young adults participate in a rugby festival was joyous to watch and even more so because we had a small part in making it possible. Never did I think two years ago over that pint that it would culminate in something as magical as this. Watching the players sitting down to breakfast together, the older ones looking after the youngsters was lovely to see. Parents being able to watch their children participate in a way they had never really thought possible. I remember seeing a mother cry at her daughters first training session 2 years ago. I walked over to see what had happened and she told me she had never seen her daughter catch a ball before. That girl played in the Tagfest on Saturday and excelled scoring her first try. It will not be long before the Tuesday night sessions will move to Sunday mornings, so the SEND players are training alongside their fellow club members on an equal footing, as important a part of the club as anyone else, as capable of scoring a try or grabbing a tag as any other player in the club.
The weekend was a turning point for many of us in many different ways and not only that, but the parents and children now understand what it is to be part of the rugby family.
Picture by Lia Armstrong
Parents quotes
Quote: It meant so much to the both of us to be included in such an amazing opportunity. Theo is very proud of himself and teammates and grateful for all the coaches amazing love and support to show him his true potential and believing in him.
Amy, mother of Theo Webb
Quote: The Tagfest tournament was an amazing opportunity for our children to be part of a larger community of multiple disabilities and be accepted for their unique selves whilst enjoying a sport that encourages team work and confidence building.
Being in a setting where there would be no judgement over diversity enabled our children to flourish and show their full potential alongside their team mates.
Rugby really does bring people together and with the fantastic support of their coaches at Thanet Wanderers they showed their capabilities and had a wonderful time.
Tanya mother of Broden Naylor-Hands
Quote: It was a truly incredible weekend, where all of our children were given the full rugby tournament experience! The highlight for Rory was getting to do all of this with his teammates, whom he now calls his friends.
Thank you to all the amazing coaches at Thanet Wanderers for giving our children this amazing experience.
Mike, father of Rory Appleton
Quote: We watched our little girl start her rugby journey two years ago with Thanet wanders when she couldn’t catch a ball. Two years later she was given the opportunity to play in her first tournament and went and got a try. That memory will live with us forever and Something we never dreamed she could achieve. It’s moments like that provides our children with confidence and belief that will help them with the challenges they face daily. But most importantly puts the biggest smile on their face.
Paula, mother of Summa Morgan
Quote: My girls were born 2 months early weighing just 3lbs; they only learnt to speak during the first Covid lock down and for a while we were told that they may have cerebral palsy, just to be told after numerous tests that they were actually both really, really really clumsy; quite the diagnosis! The girls only joined Thanet Wanderers a few weeks ago but they love it. Their older brother loves it as he can coach them in the garden and they finally have something the can all do together. I love it as I see how happy and boundary-smashing they are. They loved being on tour with their pals and peers getting unprecedented freedoms, a wonderful chance to be part of something so much bigger than anything they have ever experienced before and succeeding! The dancing, applause, games and experience of being on tour and all that entails from coaches, hotel stays, team meals and being on the team bus was a game changer for them. Thanks to all who made it happen. If I was told 13 years ago that those tiny babies would be being part of an international rugby tour I would never ever have believed it, and yet here they are!
Jackie, mother of Meggy and Hattie Waller
Quote: The weekend was heart melting for me as a parent seeing my son being part of a team that he is accepted in and excels at. For a long time he was always left on the side lines until we found rugby and he has gone from a being shadow to being proud of who he is.
For Ashley his words were “This is my family I’m the same as everyone and nobody was looking funny at me it’s the most amazing feeling and best day of my life, I don’t want it to end, it beat Disney mum.”
Lyn, mother of Ashley Cloake
01 July 2024
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