Pictured: The Harberton Seahorses with Ulster Rugby players (from left) Roger Wilson, Luke Marshall, Adam Macklin and Stephen Ferris at Friday evening’s half-time mini rugby series. It was the first time that four special needs tag rugby teams had played on the Ravenhill turf.
The newly-formed Harberton Seahorses tag rugby team played on the famous Ravenhill turf for the first time during the interval of the Ulster v Newport Gwent Dragons match on Friday, April 12.
The team, which is made up of young people with special needs from Harberton School in South Belfast, faced Newforge Taggers; the first special needs tag rugby team to be established in Northern Ireland.
In the second match Donaghadee’s Seaside Sharkies played the Ballymena Bears, marking the first time that four special needs teams had played at the home of Ulster Rugby as part of the Domino’s Pizza half-time mini rugby series.
Harberton Seahorses was formed in September 2012 with the help of Instonians RFC so this was a great opportunity for the young players to put their months of hard training into practice.
The team has the full support of the Ulster branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) and is backed by Belfast Community Sports Development Network (BCSDN) through the leadership of its Active Communities Rugby Coach, Jonathan Quigley.
It is just one of hundreds of community sports activities run every year by the Active Communities Programme in Belfast, funded by Sport NI and managed by BCSDN on behalf of Belfast City Council and Active Belfast.
Jonathan said the sight of four special needs teams at Ravenhill was proof that special needs tag rugby was on the up.
“This was a fantastic opportunity for our players to play their first competitive game in front of 10,000 plus people. It is great that Ulster Rugby is fully supporting special needs rugby and is excited about its development. It is a new era for rugby in Ulster,” he said.
The team train on Monday nights at the school in Harberton Park. Jonathan is assisted by Chris Murphy, the teacher in charge of rugby, Bill Lockhart of Instonians and volunteers from the club.
Jonathan said the training really benefited the young people: “Tag Rugby is a non-contact sport, which offers children the opportunity to make noticeable improvements in their motor skill levels, understanding of the game and to further establish meaningful friendships. “
IRFU Ulster Branch Community Rugby Officer, Jonny Gillespie, commented: “Ulster Rugby is delighted to see the success of the initiative between Harberton School and Instonians and it marks the start of an exciting new chapter in the development of tag rugby in this area. I’d like to thank the school and the volunteers at the club for their hard work in making this happen.”
The Harberton Seahorses training is open to children aged 9-11 years of age and continues every Monday’s from 7.00- 8.00pm at Harberton School. For further information, telephone Chris Murphy at Harberton School on 028 90 381525, or email cmurphy390@c2kni.net.
