A Festival to Remember: 1,400 Young Players Celebrate Rugby at Grove

What a day.

On Sunday 4 October, Grove RFC welcomed around 1,400 young players from 140 teams for our biggest Minis Rugby Festival yet.

With the sun shining and pitches packed throughout the day, Grove was transformed into a celebration of grassroots rugby, bringing together players, coaches, families and volunteers from across Oxfordshire and beyond.

From Under 7 through to Under 12, young players took to the pitches throughout the day, with hundreds of matches giving teams the chance to test themselves against opposition for the first time this year.

For many, this was their first ever rugby festival. For others, it was their first opportunity to put the new rules they have been learning this season into practice in a festival environment.

From Grove Mini to Head of Rugby

For Grove RFC Head of Rugby Tom Clipsham, the festival has a particularly personal meaning. Having come through Grove’s own Minis and Junior sections, Tom remembers the festival as one of the highlights of his childhood rugby calendar. Now, as Head of Rugby, he is helping create those same memories for the next generation.

Tom said:

“Having come through the mini and junior ranks at Grove myself, the Mini Festival was always one of the highlights of the rugby calendar. It’s fantastic to now see it continuing to grow and bringing so many young players and families together.

Days like this are what grassroots rugby is all about – building a love for the game, creating memories and bringing the community together. It’s something Grove RFC is incredibly proud of.”

Making history for girls’ rugby

This year’s festival also marked an important moment in the development of girls’ rugby at Grove RFC.

For the first time, the club hosted an Under 12 girls’ section, bringing together young female players as part of Grove’s growing commitment to providing a pathway for girls in rugby.

But the future is already looking even stronger. Grove also had an Under 8 team made up entirely of girls taking part in the festival, showing that the growth of girls’ rugby is already beginning at the youngest age groups.

The Under 8 team was led by their coach, and current Grove Ladies player Toni, creating a direct link between the club’s senior women’s team and the next generation of female players.

It is exactly the pathway Grove is looking to build: girls starting their rugby journey in the Minis, developing through the Junior age groups and ultimately having a route into the Ladies team.

The current U12 group forms the foundation of a five-year plan for girls’ rugby, developing players through the age groups with the ultimate aim of creating a strong pathway into the club’s senior women’s team.

Having current Ladies players directly involved in mentoring and developing the younger girls means that pathway is already beginning to take shape.

Girls Rugby Coach Alec Richardson said:

“This is the first cohort of female players who have never been told that rugby is not for them, Twickenham is full when the Roses play, and there will be players on these pitches for whom joining them is a realistic goal.”

Grassroots rugby at its best

An event of this size takes an enormous team effort. A huge number of Grove RFC volunteers gave up their time to help make the festival possible, supporting:

[]Pitch set-up and management[]Fixtures[]Refereeing[]First aid[]Catering[]Parking and traffic management
• Welcoming and supporting visiting clubs

A huge thank you to every club, player, coach, referee, volunteer, parent and supporter who helped make the Grove RFC Minis Rugby Festival 2026 such a memorable day.

140 teams. 1,400 players. Hundreds of matches. One fantastic day of grassroots rugby.

Most importantly, it was a day about the players. For some, it was their first ever festival. For others, another step in their rugby journey. For all of them, it was a chance to play, make friends, test themselves and create memories.

And for Grove RFC, it was a glimpse of the future.