Sunday 12. May at 10:00 – 16:00
Vallis Way, London W13 0DD, UK
Please join us on Sunday 12th May for our End of Season Family Fun Day Party.
The day will start with final training sessions of the season across Minis, Youth and Colts, followed by the End of Season Awards Ceremonies for each age group.
(Training times & invites will be issued on Spond by each age group as usual for this part).
You are then invited to stay and enjoy an afternoon of fun & games, which will include:
Bar, BBQ & Pulled Pork Rolls
Ice Cream Van
Bouncy Castle & Assault Course Inflatable’s
Children’s Rides & Face Painting
Cross Bar Challenge, Games & Races
Entry and all of the above games, rides & activities will be provided FREE of Charge.
Food, drink & ice creams will be available to purchase from the bar & food stalls.
Please feel free to bring friends and family with you as we celebrate the end of another great season at Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club. All sections of Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club (including Men’s, Women’s and Social Members) are also encouraged to join in and help celebrate the Club’s traditional season-end Closing Day.
The first memorial game at Ealing Rugby Club took place on Sunday 11th October 1981 in memory of club player Martin Armstrong. Martin, having been injured whilst playing for the Ealing 1st XV on 28th March 1981, succumbed to his injuries on 20th April 1981. Martin’s obituary, and other information, can be found HERE.
Almost twenty-five years years passed before another memorial game took place in memory of Alexis Dodin. Alexis was a stalwart player for the Exiles up to his departure in March 2006 when he moved to live in Argentina. Alexis died in a tragic skiing accident in March 2007 and a memorial game was played in May 2008. This memorial also included Tom Press who was the son of Exiles player Andy Press. Sadly Tom was only 11 years old when he passed on after a long spell of illness.
Alexis’ obituary, and other information, can be found HERE.
A few years later Damian Bugeja, long term player, Minis and Youth Section Chairman, Club Chairman and Life Member, passed away on Wednesday 12th May 2010 after a long illness. Damian’s obituary, and other information, can be found HERE.
A memorial game for Damian took place on Saturday 21st May 2010. Ealing Exiles, and guests, played against Ealing Evergreens, and guests, and The Damian Bugeja Memorial Cup was awarded for the first time. Whilst the Cup bears Damian’s name, it is a tribute to all past players and members, and over time it has become known as “The Memorial Game”.
The Memorial Game, competing for the Bugeja Memorial Cup, has taken place each May since 2010.
There is a growing list of obituaries of many players and members recorded HERE This list is being slowly increased as we discover old records and, sadly, as players and members pass on.
On Saturday 21st April a group of almost 50 players and their parents from the growing Ealing Trailfinders Girls Youth section had their first social rugby outing together. For most of the girls (and some parents) it was their first ever visit to Twickenham Stadium (along with 48,000 others). After a meet up at the Cabbage Patch and some interesting fancy dress entertainment beforehand the group then trudged south west a tad to watch the mighty Red Roses take on Ireland in the Women’s 6 Nations – and what a treat the Ealing Girls were in for both on and off the pitch!
With two of the Trailfinders Women’s players out on the pitch (Abby Dow with the England side and Shannon Ikahihifo with Ireland) it was an inspiring occasion for all spectators to witness such a high quality and fast paced display by the Red Roses. England oozed class from start to finish and ran away with a comfortable 88-10 victory over what is a very good Ireland, with Ealing’s Abby Dow bagging an hat-trick of amazing tries.
The inspiration for the young Ealing Girls Youth players watching didn’t finish at the 80 minute mark either – as they all stayed on to soak up the post-match Twickenham atmosphere. Much to the girls squeals of excitement they were joined near the corner flag by both Abby and Shannon who came over together to thank, chat with and take pics with their younger Ealing club mates. In chatting with Abby Dow one of the Ealing Girls Youth players, Isabella Macaulay-Coutts, proudly recalls (and tells anyone else that will listen) how she too has scored a try at Twickenham – when she played on the hallowed turf in a Minis Festival for Ealing Under 9s!
The Ealing Bobble Hats and bright orange hoodies really stand out amongst 48,000 spectators too. A big thank you to James Connolly for organising the outing to HQ for the girls and to Trailfinders Women’s Manager, Jojo Loxton for passing on the message that an excited group of Ealing Girls were attending – it really made for an inspiring occasion for the developing girls section.
Thank you Abby and Shannon.
The U11s came back from their recent tour to Bogner carrying silverware for the club. Six very hard fought games saw them come top of the group on the final day.
Massive congratulations to the team; Ella, Finbar, Frankie, George, Geronimo, Harry, Harvey, Jack, Mikey, Rian and Stefan who worked hard and played very well.
Special thank to Jane Morris for organising and to Meg Coleman who patched up the injured players.
Coaches Rupert Smith, Kevin O’Sullivan and Matt Bolton.
Trailfinders Women’s Liz Crake has been called up to the Red Roses squad to help with preparations for England’s match against France on Saturday in Bordeaux.
Well done Liz
Harry Vidler, may have had the 1st XV captaincy dropped on him, but once the surprise of seeing (C) next to his name on the teamsheet had dissipated, he led the team in supreme fashion.
His assignment…lead the team to the sunny (and windy) Essex coast to beat Burnham on Crouch and progress to the next round of the Papa John’s Trophy, and he responded by guiding the team to a 56-26 victory that sets up a match against Basildon at Vallis Way on Saturday.
Listen to the full podcast, look back on the win, the season so far, what his song choice was, and just where the Bronson Cup is….
1871 podcast with Harry Vidler
Ealing Trailfinders U12’s ventured to Bognor Regis on their last tour as Minis.
Having two teams who had trained and played together over a number of weeks hopes were high for some great rugby and both teams delivered!
A hard fought Saturday saw Ealing Sabres through to the latter stages of the cup competition with two wins and a draw against this season’s nemesis Amersham and Chiltern.
Ealing Scimitars played some exceptional rugby to win two and lose only to Harpenden Eagles. This proved bittersweet as they found themselves against some top class sides on the Sunday and lost all three matches but were physical and committed throughout and played some of their best rugby of the season.
There was elation and disappointment for the Sabres as well, who went through 119 minutes of rugby without conceding a try thereby earning the best defensive record in the tournament only to crack with the very last play of the final game and to come a very close second in the cup.
The squad came together afterward to celebrate with a court session (what goes on tour stays on tour) and to be awarded their club ties as they move up to youth after a memorable final minis season.
Superb Ealing 1871 Women role models guide the U12 Girls in their first Rugby 7’s Festival
The U12 Girls Youth squad had their first foray into 7’s Rugby on Saturday at the London Irish Emeralds International Girls Rugby Festival. With an early start on a hot, sunny and windy day the Ealing side needed and stood out off the pitch under the shade of the bright orange ET gazebo. The U12 girls were very fortunate to have the services of three Ealing 1871 Women’s squad players as guest coaches. A huge round of applause goes out to currently injured Ealing 1871 Women’s players Eden Commins, Jess Axebrink and Kayleigh Pink. These three ladies were superb role models for our aspiring U12 Girls and guided them thru the nuances of 7’s rugby.
With 18 teams competing in the U12 age group alone Saturday was for the U12’s and U14’s at a very busy and superbly organised festival at the Hazelwood complex. The U16’s and U18’s groups of the festival played on Sunday.
Ealing U12 girl’s came up against two very organised and strong sides in Old Albanians and Battersea Ironsiders in the morning matches. Although the Ealing girls were slower to start and a tad hesitant at the breakdown they managed to consistently deploy some free flowing attacking play. In both morning games Ealing were the early try-scorers, put in some committed cover tackles and the speed and slick passing of our outside backs caused the opposition real problems. However, the pace of 7’s and not committing players to defensive lines or being quick to the breakdown meant Ealing were losing almost every ruck – resulting in two first up losses of 7-2.
The long lunch break ensured time for reflection and refocusing ……. Roll out the hype and motivation of Eden, Jess and Kayleigh from their Ealing 1871 Women’s experience. After an impromptu coaching session on defensive line speed and committing to rucks game three against a handy Wasps side was almost flawless from start to finish with a stylish Ealing 8-5 win. Unfortunately, this form just couldn’t be followed up in the final game against Richmond where Ealing went down bravely 6-4.
Given that all 11 of the Ealing girls had never played 7’s before and we had just three hurried 7’s training sessions it was a great learning curve and amazing overall performance. Player of the Day went jointly to Catherine Gallagher and Iga Pawlica – both girls are in their first ever season of rugby. Special mentions were made by the Ealing 1871 ladies around consistency and confidence building play as the festival wore on for Eydie Field, Cameron Isaac-Simon and Luella Wells.
Trailfinders Sports Club are hiring bar/events staff to work upcoming match days and events!
Get in touch with Trailfinders Sports Club directly by emailing enquiries@tfsc.co.uk with your CV.