This article is from page 25 of the 2008-04-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 25 JPG
OVER 200 people have already signed up for the Ennis Tag Rugby League.
The sport has developed into a fix- ture on the summer sports calendar. This year 23,000 people have signed up to play, making it Ireland’s most popular tag league.
Tasked with over seeing the growth of the sport and maintaining its pro- file is Ennis man Brian Nevin.
Earlier this year, Nevin was ap- pointed Commercial Manager of the Irish Tag Rugby Association CUR eA
Two years ago he was part of the first team from Ennis to compete in the All-Ireland tag rugby champion- ship in Limerick.
In 2007 he was involved in estab- lishing the first tag rugby league in
Sab eb Ese
He explained, “We had been talk- ing about getting a league going in Ennis. | was always onto the asso- ciation about doing it, so eventually they challenged me to start a league in Ennis. We held coaching clinics in April in the rugby club. We though wed get about 10 people, but 105 turned up the first night. We ended up with 16 teams. It just grew legs and kept developing”. The teams that competed in the nine-week league were drawn mainly from local busi- nesses and clubs.
Brian said, “It was great to see players developing from the coach- ing clinics in April to competing in the league. If you do play rugby it is a great way to develop skills and, equally, if you’re not, its good fun to oe Nae
Nevin took up the role with the
ITRA after working for four years as Brand Manager for Erdinger Beer in the west of Ireland.
The idea of tag rugby is that it pro- vides an enjoyable way of keeping fit. There is also a huge social element to tag rugby with matches usually end- ing with a barbecue or a trip to the pub.
“The social aspect is one of the main reasons why the summer leagues have gone so well. On week three we have a salsa night where people can learn salsa dancing. On week seven of the league we’re hop- ing to organise Ireland’s largest table quiz. In week seven there will be a charity event in conjunction with World Vision, where, for every litre of water sold, Volvic will donate 10 liters to Africa”.
Perhaps the most eye-catching of the planned events is the beach tag
rugby tournament in Lahinch on June 21.
“We’ve got great support from the GAA clubs in Lahinch and Ennisty- mon and local businesses and the Gardai. There has been interest from teams around Ireland. Its definitely an event we would hope to grow over the next few years”’.
Registration is live now on www. volvictag.ie for Ennis RFC summer leagues. For more information call CAO U Lee