This weekend, Maddy’s Marauders made their debut at @bournemouth7sfestival with both men’s and women’s squads competing in the National Cup league. Let’s just say… everything that could go wrong, did. And yet… the outcome was more powerful than we could’ve imagined.
A major kit mix-up meant our gorgeous Marauders jerseys were scheduled to arrive after the festival ended 😅 With under a week to go and nothing to wear, the legends at @aylesburyrfc stepped in, generously loaning us their pink and black striped kit. We took to the pitch looking united, professional, and most importantly… still in our signature pink!
Then, last-minute injuries and mishaps left us with reduced squads and plenty of 7s newbies, meaning we were a bit over our heads in the elite league. But thanks to the support of B7s and our fellow teams, we were given special permission to form a last minute Barbarians-style squad, temporarily pinching players from any teams that were interested! Players from over 10 clubs jumped in throughout the weekend to represent the Marauders and every single one gave it their all.
Did we win a game? Nope.
Did we win the hearts of the crowd, the commentators and the entire festival? Absolutely 💥
Every try was celebrated like a World Cup final, Maddy’s Mark got more shout-outs than we could count and by the end… we had a huge squad made up of wonderful strangers, now friends!
This weekend reminded us of what rugby is all about – connection, camaraderie and rallying behind a cause bigger than ourselves. It was chaotic. It was beautiful. And it’s exactly why we do what we do.
To every player who stepped in and every club that lent us players (some of which are tagged), we are beyond grateful. To @aylesburyrfc, thank you for dressing us in pride.
And to our OG Marauders, thank you for giving it your all and taking Maddy to B7s with you 🩷
