“enclosed is a Diary of how the CDRFC Hosting Parents and their Children experienced a wonderful week looking after their new family members from Barbezieux Rugby Club. Some of the Derry Hosting Parents were looking after two children but the braver ones looked after four children.
“I would like to thank everyone from City of Derry RFC who were involved from Parents, Children, Coaches, Committee Members plus Dermot & Herbie and all our generous Sponsors. I would like to thank Barry Willis and the Ulster Branch(IRFU) for their support through supplying Coaching and Ulster Players, Chris Colllins and Derry GAA for their Coaching and trip to Celtic Park along with Michael Heffernan and all at Steelstown GAC for their facilities and welcome to their Club.” Moss Dineen
Wednesday 02nd May 2012 – The Barbezieux party (50 kids and 17 adults) arrived @ the Club @ 9.00pm and after introductions we managed to get everyone a bed for the night!
Most of the Host Families took two French children each but some of the more brave (or more foolhardy!) amongst us took four!
We all departed the Club to get our wards home and into bed after their long journey while the parents and coaches plus 6 stray children were fed and watered and put to bed eventually.
Thursday 03rd May 2012 – early morning we took the children to our local schools and a big thank you to all the head teachers for permission to do so, and to all the staff who helped make the children welcome on the day. A particular thanks to Terry McMaster of Drumahoe Primary who had 12 French children and kindly brought in his French teacher for the day which settled some of the more home sick children. Terry took two late deliveries on Thursday morning from Moss at a moments notice as did Pat O’Doherty @ Lumen Christi, when the children arrived at Lumen there they went Harry Potter straight away when they saw the building.
Thursday night we hit the Bowling Alley – Chaos! The French children had never seen anything like it and really enjoyed themselves. We managed to get over 100 children fed – at once! And no major catastrophes. Everyone left tired but happy while the parents and coaches hit Da Vinci’s and the start of the Jazz Festival to be entertained by the Jive Aces along with Andy, Moss & Maeve.
Friday 04th May 2012 – early morning we dropped off our wards @ the Visitors Centre (packed lunch in hand) and they enjoyed a day touring our beautiful City of Culture. They loved the Peace Bridge and bought some local tat to take home to their unsuspecting parents!
Friday night was a HUGE success. We were delighted to have John Afoa and Jared Payne, from the Ulster Squad, join the youngsters for a training session, and they were immensely patient with us all (mothers included!!) posing for photographs and signing autographs. It was a beautiful sunny evening and everyone had a ball. Many thanks to Barry Willis, Michael Black, Darren and Shaun from the Ulster Branch for taking the time out to make the City of Derry Minis, the Barbezieux kids, and a few mums very happy!! The Parents and Coaches were entertained an Irish Music Session at Peadar O’Donnell’s until 2am.
Saturday 05th May 2012 – we got a lie in this morning and had the kids @ the Club for midday for training. It was another lovely sunny day and the children enjoyed few matches before we left with McDonalds Vouchers in hand for lunch – to be back @ the Club for 7.00pm.
Saturday night was a fantastic night – lots of fun and lots of cognac! Over 150 of us enjoyed Rugby Etiquette – a meal after some heart-warming speeches and a few presentations between the two Clubs. The children played outside until dark and we had to take them home! The parents and coaches were enticed to Café Del Mondo by some of our wonderful parents to dance the night away.
Sunday 06th May 2012 – another beautiful sunny day and we all met @ the Club for 1.15 to meet the Mayor before the tournament began. There was also a presentation to Teresa Gill for all her hard work for the Minis and she received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from Moss.
Letterkenny joined us for the Tournament and the children enjoyed some really good matches. The BBQ after the tournament was a great success there was a fantastic buzz about the Club all day with parents and friends enjoying the rugby and the good weather.
The Barbezieux Team showed us their Hakka – it was absolutely brilliant and a few Derry wans had a go – hilarious! If you haven’t seen it check out Pat O’Hagan’s page on Face Book for the video and for lots of photos of the exchange. The parents and Coaches along with City of Derry Club Members met at Pitchers, Foyle Golf Club, for more Jazz, until early hours.
Monday 07th May 2012 – unfortunately it was a wet morning and the children’s visit to Steelstown was a little damp but they all enjoyed the hospitality and particularly enjoyed the hurling.
We had a free afternoon and evening on Monday so Host Families did their own thing with their wards and many of us cooked a Sunday dinner – so they didn’t think we live on McDonalds! Sheena Cameron invited the French Parents and Coaches to her home to share a memorable night with her family and friends, once again until the early hours.
Tuesday 08th May 2012 – The last day dawned and we dropped the French kids off @ the Club early for a trip to the Giants Causeway. They enjoyed a lovely sunny day @ the coast and we picked them all up @ 4.30pm to be back @ the Club for 7.00pm for the farewell dinner.
The farewell buffet dinner was attended by the Mayor and after a brief presentation of a plaque to our French visitors the two teams exchanged T Shirts and we all had photographs taken with our new families as a memento.
Wednesday 09th May 2012 – we were @ the Club for 6.30am to get our visitors on the bus to Dublin and after a final run through their Hakka, lots of au revoirs, á bientôts and a few tears we waved goodbye. Thanks to Malcolm Montgomery for driving the Mini Bus to Dublin Airport.
It was a fantastic week, crazy busy and crazy noisy but a wonderful experience for all, Host Families in particular, and one that all the children will forever remember. It was an enriching educational, cultural and sporting experience for all involved, and all set goals have been achieved.
Au revoir Barbezieux – á bientôt!
