Leinster Rugby is thrilled to introduce the latest additions to the Leinster Rugby community – our Special Needs tag teams – who are being honoured at half time in the Aviva Stadium on Saturday…
These are the DLSP Eagles; The Greystones Seagulls; The Seapoint Dragons and the Westmanstown Taggers.
Rugby is a game that can be played by people of all ages, both sexes, in competitive and friendly fashions, with and without contact. Our aim is to provide children and adults with learning disabilities, an opportunity to learn and play tag rugby in a safe, enjoyable and exciting environment and to build social skills and boost confidence.
Our players have a broad range of special needs and all new members are welcome no matter what their ability or special need.
If you are interested in finding out more contact:
DLSP Eagles
Dave Hicks: david@themeatfactoryoutlet.com
De La Salle Palmerston FC are very pleased to present our special needs rugby team, ‘The Eagles.’ It all started last season when they were asked to help establish tag rugby for players with special needs in our club. It can be difficult to get additional volunteers for any new venture but this was not the case in DLSP as we had more volunteers than players. The club set up the new squad in association with James Jones, a staff member in Cheverstown. He put out the word and they’ve slowly grown in numbers since. Currently there are approximately 22 regular players involved every Sunday at 12:30pm. The emphasis is on having fun – allowing players to enjoy training while developing fitness levels and skills. Different players have different abilities and the team does its best to cater for everyone’s needs.
Greystones Seagulls
Keith O’Brien: klmobrien@yahoo.ie
Greystones Seagulls Tag Team was set up last season to bring the enjoyment of rugby to adults and children in our community with intellectual disabilities. Rugby is a game that can be played by people of all ages, both sexes, in both competitive and friendly fashions, with and without contact. There is no reason why players with intellectual difficulties, who enjoy watching rugby and admiring Leinster’s successes, cannot enjoy time on the pitch and delight in participating in the game with each other. As a community club Greystones RFC is delighted to subsidise the Seagulls and to include them as part of their rugby community. They would also be delighted to welcome new players and volunteers to training at 11am every Sunday morning during the rugby season. Enquiries can be made to Keith O’Brien on 086 897 6677. Thanks to Keith and his team of volunteers for their effort and time every weekend. Finally the club are delighted to welcome Fergus McFadden of Leinster and Ireland fame as Ambassador to our Seagulls team. We at Greystones are delighted for his support and the Seagulls look forward to supporting Fergus and Leinster in Saturday’s game against Clermont.
Seapoint Dragons
Caroline O’Brien: carolinequinnobrien@gmail.com
Seapoint Dragons was established in August 2011 as a result of an initiative among a number of clubs within Leinster Rugby. Their aim is to provide children and adults with learning disabilities, an opportunity to learn and play tag rugby in a safe, enjoyable and exciting environment. The players, who are both male and female, all have a learning disability. Our junior squad caters for players between the ages of 6 and 14, while our senior squad caters for players from 15 years and above with no upper age limit. We also seek to offer parents, families and friends of people with a disability a friendly environment where they can relax, meet new people and enjoy watching the players develop. Our patron, Felix Jones (Seapoint, Munster and Ireland), provides huge encouragement and support to both players and coaches alike. We train each Sunday morning at 12:30 in Kilbogget Park, Churchview Road, Killiney, Co. Dublin. Our coaching staff comprises a team of dedicated volunteers drawn from the community and the club with support from Transition Year students in both Blackrock College and Holy Child Killiney. The coaches continue to see a very noticeable improvement in our players’ skill levels, confidence and understanding of the game. They look forward to growing this initiative and using tag rugby as a means of providing children and adults with learning disabilities a sense of fun, teamwork and inclusion.
Westmanstown Taggers
Neville Ross – nevross@icloud.com
Head coach Jorge Zulkouski setup a special needs tag rugby team around 4 years ago, and on September 2nd 2012 they officially launched as the Westmanstown Taggers and moved to the new home at Westmanstown under the umbrella of the Garda Rugby Club. There was support on the day from Leo Varadkar TD Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, members of the Garda Rugby Club and Leinster Rugby team players.
In the past few months we have gone from strength to strength, doubling our numbers and now have both junior (the cubs) and senior (the lions) teams. We have amazing training facilities at Westmanstown (the Garda Rugby a pitch, the GAA all-weather pitch, and Crunch Fitness have made their sports hall available for indoor training during winter). Their Patron Isaac Boss regularly attends training sessions and encourages the team to enjoy the sport. Their team members have a broad range of special needs and all new members are welcome no matter what their ability or special need. Tag Rugby presents a fantastic opportunity to interact with new friends in a team sport environment, to build social skills and boost confidence. If you are interested in finding out more contact us via our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WestmanstownTaggers
