What a year 2022 was!

The year 2022 was a big year for Blackadders Touch Rugby, which saw the team celebrate their 15th anniversary!

To help make it a year to remember the team managed to squeeze in three friendlies, the Newcastle Falcon’s Nuffield Winter League (which ran until June, so not really winter!), four competitions, two female only competitions, a charity walk and a number of EMOMs, AMRAPs, tabatas and many more workouts along the way, the team will not be forgetting the 12 days of Christmas anytime soon.

Below is a summary of the competitions:

• Third place finish in the Nuffield Winter Touch League
• Plate winners at the Rugby Roadshow hosted at Percy Park in May
• Blackadders Ladies winning the Thorton Hickey Ladies League as part of Coastal Cyclones, an amalgamation of 4 local teams. Well done to Cat who was the team’s top try scorer and also winner of the Player’s Player Award.
• Blackadders Ladies winning the Tynedale Beer Festival in June
• Cup Winners at the Maggie’s Charity competition in July
• Cup finalist in the Stockton Development tournament in October
• Third place in the Raider Autumn mixed tournament in November

Blackadders have always been very charity orientated, this year the team’s goal was to raise as much as possible for the Maggie’s Cancer charity based at the Freeman hospital through a wide range of events across the year. This target was smashed with over £8,400 raised across the year. The custom charity vests, charity 100km walk and an 8 team charity touch competition were just some of the ways the money was raised. The famous “It’s Friday” Dance to launch the shirts was shared on social media in May, which received over 119 likes on Instagram and the team’s first TikTok. If you need a reminder, check out the video below:

A final shout out to Athena, Carl and Lesley for representing Blackadders when they were selected to play  for the North East Raiders in the National Touch Competition in August. All of them managed to get on the score sheet and make an appearance on the England Touch YouTube channel.

End of Season Awards

Well done to Carl who received the Player’s Player Award 2022 from his fellow players for his constant efforts on and off the pitch, great communication and keeping everyone involved.

Well done to Matt Redshaw, the youth of the team who received Captain’s Player and Most Improved Player. His efforts and commitment this season have been fantastic.