Warriors Women and England ace Alex Matthews has launched didi rugby Worcester, inspiring young children in the area to get active and learn new skills while having fun in a safe environment.
The World Cup-winner, who recently made the move to Premier 15s side Warriors Women, has been part of the England XVs and Sevens set-up for almost a decade, but had her world thrown upside down when the England Sevens set-up became a casualty of recent coronavirus-related cuts.
Determined to give something back to the sport that has made her today, Alex has teamed up with didi founder and CEO Vicky Macqueen to expand the business to Worcester and get children aged 18 months to six years-old playing rugby and learning new skills along the way.
“When I joined Warriors Women, one of the first meetings was all about the club’s community values and that triggered my thoughts about didi rugby,” said Alex.
“Then came the support of Vicky to push the initial thought into an idea and I think without her input I would still be holding back.
“I just want to get into the community and hopefully build some links as well as potentially providing some opportunities for some of the Warriors Women players to do some coaching.”
It’s been a rollercoaster few months for Alex, adding: “When the pandemic began, and we had to leave the Sevens group, nobody knew what to expect.
“When we found out it was the end of the Sevens programme it was heart-breaking. We are all desperate to go to the Olympics and be in the best place possible, so we are currently trying to secure private funding, which is ongoing.
“I have already seen the power of didi rugby and the children learn so much from it without them even knowing. It gets them active and they always have fun. It’s a tremendously well-run and well-organised programme at didi and I’m really looking forward to getting involved.”