The rugby team from Moorfields Primary School in Ballymena has been selected to join the British & Irish Lions at the Aviva Stadium for a training session with players and coaches, ahead of their match against Argentina on Friday 20th June.

The team were chosen at the annual Ulster Rugby Primary School Festival last month, where aspiring young rugby players got the opportunity to play at Kingspan Stadium thanks to support from SPAR NI.

Moorfields Primary School’s team was chosen due to the players’ behaviour and their receptiveness to Ulster Rugby mini rugby regulations.

SPAR NI signed on as Ulster Rugby’s first community partner and the primary sponsor of Ulster Rugby’s Mini Rugby in 2022, enabling the club to bring these kinds of opportunities and activities to hundreds of schools and clubs across Northern Ireland over the past three years.

This year, eight schools from across Northern Ireland attended each day of the festival, with a total of 600 pupils taking part over five days. Each team got the opportunity to visit the stadium and play against three teams of 15 players from other schools, encouraging teamwork and collaboration.

Bronagh Luke from SPAR NI, commented, “It’s at the heart of the SPAR NI brand to support our local communities and this partnership allows us to do just that by not only supporting the next generation of rugby players, coaches and referees from across Northern Ireland, but bringing young people together to learn team building and the additional skills that team sports bring.

“The Primary Schools Festival is a great opportunity for aspiring young rugby players to learn those skills, meet new people and of course to play at Kingspan Stadium and our sponsorship of this event allows us to interact with more families and schools from local communities and beyond.

“We’re delighted that this year’s event has enabled a local primary school team to enjoy a once in a lifetime experience, meeting and training with the British & Irish Lions players and coaches.”

Hugh McCaughey, CEO at Ulster Rugby, commented, “We want to thank SPAR NI for their sponsorship of our mini rugby events for another season. Activities such as the Primary School Festival have many health and well-being benefits for the young people taking part, and SPAR NI’s sponsorship enables us to continue holding events like this across the province.

“SPAR NI work to support their community in the same way we do here at Ulster Rugby, and our ongoing partnership allows us to come together to support more families, create more participation opportunities, exciting experiences and have a bigger impact overall on our local community.”

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