RAINEY MINIS CELEBRATE END OF SEASON
Three special people mark the end of a year of mini rugby at Magherafelt Club
The Mini Rugby players of Rainey Old Boys RFC, Magherafelt had great reason to celebrate the end of a year of rugby. Following a highly successful season seeing the young players grow in confidence and develop their skills, the Club hosted a player presentation evening attended by three special people.
Heather Thornton, Mini Rugby Convenor said “It’s been a busy year for our players, training every Friday night and playing 13 fixtures against other mini rugby clubs, plus attending festivals too. The season also had a low, when in January, one of our P4 players travelled to Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital to have a tumour removed from his brain.
Caine Ross from Castledawson was first diagnosed with a brain tumour in November 2015 and following a rollercoaster couple of years, he and his parents Donna and Darryl headed off for consultations to London.”
“We all felt so helpless at the Club; the Ross family have four boys, two at Minis and one due to start with the P1 group next year. As a small gesture of our good wishes and with the kind support of the Ulster Rugby Team a Christmas card was signed by the players and an Ulster Rugby ‘Sparky’ mascot was delivered to Caine. Caine packed Sparky in his bag for his adventures to Great Ormond Street.”
Caine went through his surgery on 27th January 2017 and to the delight of all has made a great recovery. “From chatting to his mum, I decided to try to give Caine and his family a ‘lift’ by inviting the ‘real’ Sparky to attend our end of season presentation evening,” added Heather.
So along with Sparky, clubman Jack McIntosh (voted Youth Player of the Year at the Ulster Rugby Awards night and Ireland U18 player) presented players with their participation medals. To everyone’s delight Caine attended the evening too and got stuck back into playing with his rugby friends; just as if nothing had ever happened!
The Ross family are now fundraising to support Great Ormond Street Hospital, Koala Ward in an effort to assist them raise funds to purchase a new iMRI Scanner. If you would like to read more about Caine’s story please visit his Facebook page ‘Caine’s Journey to Great Ormond Street’, where there’s a link to the family’s Just Giving fundraising page.
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If you would like more information please contact Heather Thornton.
Photo caption 1:
Ulster Rugby official mascot Sparky delighted the Ross family by attending the Rainey OB RFC Mini Rugby presentation evening: Caine Ross (aged 8), Caspar (aged 4) and Christian (aged 10).
Photo caption 2:
We love you Sparky! Big hugs for Sparky from Caine Ross (aged 8), his mum Donna and younger brother Caspar, when Ulster Rugby’s mascot visited Rainey Old Boys RFC Mini Rugby end of season presentation evening.
Photo caption 3:
Ulster Rugby’s official mascot Sparky delighted Caine Ross (aged 8) when he attended the Rainey OB RFC Mini Rugby presentation evening. Caine has a ‘Sparky’ soft toy which was a hospital companion to him as he went through surgery to remove a brain tumour earlier this year at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
