Inclusive Rugby Tag Festival 2022

venice host tag fest

Five English and five Italian teams met for the Inclusive Rugby Tag Festival 2022, at the Mirano Rugby Club, Venice, Italy.

The festival kicked-off with an Olympic-style opening ceremony, where our mascot Spoony made an appearance. For ten years, Wooden Spoon has helped fund the International Disability Tag Rugby festival. It has been held all over the UK and Ireland, giving youngsters with disabilities an opportunity to face challenges positively. With the emergence of The Mirano Dragons, a new Italian team, and willing Italian volunteers, this year the event was held in Venice – with over 100 children and young people taking part. Wooden Spoon National Rugby & Communities Manager, Matt Mitchell, said: “It was really joyful and heart-warming. The event was focused on building connections between children with different abilities who typically struggle with communication. They flourish when rugby is involved. “Wooden Spoon is proud to support programmes like this across the UK and Ireland, and we were delighted to be involved in this event, which is helping to grow awareness of disability rugby in Italy.” Wooden Sppon would like to say a huge thank you for the hospitality shown to us from the Mirano Dragons and Jeremy Bristoe, the main organiser and whose brainchild the festival was.

Mirano Rugby President Stefano Cibin with Sarah Webb and Matt Mitchell