St Annes Club Day & Beach Rugby Fun

Beach Rugby Tournament draws in more teams than ever - and BBQ & live music follows!

The 2nd Fylde RFC beach rugby festival to be held on Saturday 12th July on St Annes beach looks likely to be a great success. With 16 or more teams already entered, there'll be some 160 players taking part in this fun, fast, mixed gender, non-contact version of rugby. It's 5-a-side tag rugby made up of teams of 10 players. The event is supported by the Rugby Football Union and Fylde Borough Council and will be one of an extensive series of beach rugby events held all over England from mid-May until the end of August.

Sponsored this year by Seat main dealer Hobin of Preston, the Tournament has attracted teams from all over the North, with entries from Cumbria, Manchester & Leeds joining up with a clutch of local teams. And the teams embrace a wide range of experience, with national league players from Fylde and other senior clubs playing alongside teams of people who've never played before, including two teams from the local Royal Lifeboat Institution station. Students, former schoolboy players and women are part of the rich mix.

Tournament Organiser (& Fylde 1st teamer) Alan Holmes said: "We're looking forward to a great day. The fact that it co-incides with St Annes Club Day only provides more interest. Spectators can watch the procession and then stroll on down to St Annes Pier to see some great fun sport. This is a superb way to have a run around, a laugh and play non-contact rugby."

Councillor Simon Renwick, Cabinet Member for Culture and Tourism at Fylde Borough Council, said: “We are delighted that the Fylde Rugby Club has once again chosen to stage such an exciting event on St Annes Beach. The soft sands that we have are popular and lend themselves perfectly for the sport and we welcome this use of the area. We expect plenty of spectators on the beach for the competition which was very successful at drawing in visitors to the area last year.”

The Tournament kicks off at 11.15am and will run through until around 4.00pm. There's free entry to the Woodlands Clubhouse beginning immediately after the Tournament. Bar open at 17.00, live band and BBQ food to purchase available from 17.30.

Teams that have entered to date include:

Aardvark - Matt Filipo & friends

Beach Boys - Fylde Colts

Team Galactico - Samurai team including Steve Nutt, Roger Banks, Dan Palmer & Dave Mercer (Caldy)

Kendal - including Liam Hayton, Jon & Luke Ladell, Gareth Gore & James Gough.

I am Legend - another Cumbrian outfit including Gary Holmes & Dan Bowman

UCLAN - including Andrew Irving & Mark Edwards

Learning Curve Nursery Group - staff and parents

Taps staff

Arnold School alumni  - former pupils

Fylde Womens team

RNLI - two teams

Four late entrants are:

Zest
Fairhaven
Weeton Barracks
Rossall Alumni

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