Old Patesians U15s Tour to Holland 2025

In the very early hours of 18th April, a party of 52 (27 boys & 25 parents) embarked on the first overseas tour by any Old Pats team (Juniors or Seniors) in well over 20 years. An epic coach journey spanning four different countries, a ferry, one hypermarket and far too many service stations. Everyone arrived ‘fresh and relaxed’ at our base camp, the Centre Parks outside of Amsterdam. A tranquil setting with a lake, waterpark, activity centre and many fine eateries/places of refreshment. The ambience did however change somewhat on arrival of the Old Pats group, who despite being a decent & well-meaning bunch were very much in an excitable & noisy mood for the duration of the stay.

After a lovely first night by the marina, a (relatively) early night & we were ready for our first game the following morning at a wonderfully friendly club called the Pink Panthers RFC. A game played in sunny weather, a great spirit, entertaining to watch and no lack of skill where all the touring boys got on the grass to showcase their skills in their resplendent new tour shirts. As polite guests we even brought our own Pink Panther to run the touch. Post game things continued with some fantastic Dutch hospitality for our fancy-dressed party of Grandmas & Grandads, although some of the attire left a lot to be desired! We then headed to Amsterdam RFC to watch their men’s 1st XV & enjoy further the Dutch rugby experience. With coach karaoke ringing in our ears we had a great afternoon whilst building bridges with our hosts.

On Sunday, we attended the Hilversum International Youth Rugby Festival. A mammoth event with 75 teams from across Europe, from U8’s to Colts. Such is the size of the event that you can equally get lost amongst the pitches or the bars. Playing four high-paced games of rugby against UK teams, where the challenge was to fight the tiredness, the knocks (on & off the field), adapt to the interesting Dutch refereeing and avoid sunburn. The boys all performed manfully, playing some free-flowing rugby and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. More Dutch hospitality of course ensued late into the night.

Finally, a welcome rest day of sorts on the Monday and the opportunity to do activities of choice prior to a splendid end-of-tour court session where fines varied for misdemeanours such as lateness, inappropriate shorts, poor tour rules adherence and even too much unsupervised climbing!

Everyone returned to Cheltenham safe, well, but far from energised after the 10 hour travel back. A great experience with all the key tour ingredients delivered: fun, friendship and memories. All boys and parents were a joy to be with and sets things up nicely for next season as U16’s.

Thanks finally to our generous tour sponsors that enabled all to get inclusive kit – ASP Isotopes, S/W Construction, Berrington Pure Spring Water, MP ProSolutions

Ross Freebury

U15’s Head Coach