LGBTQ+ rugby club recruiting after 'stonking' 2024

An inclusive rugby team is looking for players from further afield after a "stonking" first season.

The Colchester Kings will be holding taster sessions in Chelmsford and Ipswich this January.

When it was set up in 2022, the club was thought to be the only rugby union side in East Anglia focused on providing an inclusive environment for LGBTQ+ people.

Founder Sam Biscoe said the club had "made a positive impact on people's lives".

The 38-year-old added: "We had a stonking first season last year.

"It's led to some people figuring out that they can actually do stuff that they didn't allow themselves to do because of either possibly being bullied or not seeing themselves reflected in that space before."

Field captain Tom Crudgington, 31, lives in Chelmsford - about 25 miles (40km) away from the club's base at Raven Park in Colchester.

He said he had played rugby when he was younger, but had not taken part in the sport for about 10 years - until he found out about the Kings.

"It was great," he said of his first taster session.

"As an adult, it's quite hard to get into a new sport and reach out and make new friends and things like that.

"I've made loads of new friends playing a sport that I love again after a long time."

The club will hold taster sessions in Ipswich and Chelmsford on 11 January and in Colchester on 12 January.

In 2024, the club launched a mixed-gender touch rugby squad which plans to enter a league this year.

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