London Irish amateurs overcome airport closure to keep tour tradition alive
Not even an airport closure could stop the London Irish Amateurs RFC from making it on their annual tour to Dublin last weekend.
The tour is a long-established tradition for young rugby players at the club, with 48 tours going to the Emerald Isle over the past 44 years.
But when U12s Head Coach Paul Charles’s phone started pinging at 4:21am last Friday morning, it wasn’t the news he had hoped for.
He said: “I got text messages asking me to put the news on. We’d been fundraising for a year for this – I thought someone was playing a prank until I saw the TV.”
London Heathrow Airport was closed due to a fire at an electricity substation, grounding all flights.
Undeterred, Paul alongside Team Manager James Williams and Chair of Youth Rugby Neil Sapsed sprang into action to see if they could still get the tour on.
Charles said: “We spoke to Aer Lingus who confirmed no flights were going on the Friday and that they’d do their best to get us there the next day.
“At this point, we were almost resigned to the fact that we weren’t going. But the tour is a rite of passage for our youngsters, and we’ve been going to the same clubs year after year. It was also the first in the club’s history that we would have taken a girls' team, so we decided to just keep trying.”
The trio looked at ferries but with prices for cars were skyrocketing due to demand, before even considering how to find enough drivers for 140 attendees, it seemed like an impossible task.
Then, Williams had a brainwave. After waking up the company’s owner, he managed to secure two buses and a ferry crossing, and the group were on their way.
Charles added: “As soon as we were off on our 9-hour coach journey to Dublin, we were singing and dancing on the bus. It really is resilience and teamwork that got us there – it reminded me of TREDS actually. We had a ton of enjoyment, had to have discipline, and picked each other up from the sportsmanship point of view.
“It was a fantastic weekend, and we had a fabulous time. Most importantly, it was a tour that the kids will never, ever forget.
“The first time ever taking a girls’ team and they won their tournament, while both boys’ teams also reached the final of the De La Salle Palmerston tournament.”
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Reflecting on the achievement of simply getting the tour on, Charles said: “Once we got there, it was funny, but getting things in place was so challenging.
“I’m very lucky to have two people around me and the leadership in place to make it happen.”
Against all odds, London Irish Amateurs ensured the tour went ahead, proving that determination, teamwork, and a love for the game can overcome obstacles.
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