29 May 2024

Thousands attend tenth annual Rhinos Challenge

In May, Leeds Rhinos Foundation in partnership with ESF Events celebrated the tenth anniversary of the Rhinos Challenge tournament. Over two weekends at Butlins in Skegness, young players took part in a weekend of netball and rugby at one of the biggest events of its kind in the country.

12,000 people attended over the weekends where they met Rhinos players David Fusitu'a, Morgan Gannon and Jack Smith and Netball stars Amy Braithwaite and Celyn Emanuel.

Both weekends were immensely successful, attracting a record number of Rugby League and Netball teams:

323 Rugby League teams
97 Netball teams
1050 Rugby League fixtures
450 Netball matches
70 volunteer referees and umpires

Each weekend concluded with a presentation show celebrating the players' achievements. After the games were over teams were invited onto the main stage to receive their Rhinos Challenge medals from Rhinos players. Awards included Fair Play, Magic Moment, Player of Steel, and the Main Cup for teams aged 12 and above. Additionally, attendees enjoyed the popular Rhinos Challenge Lazer show, which has been perfected over the past couple of years!

Speaking about the events, Head of Community and Engagement at Leeds Rhinos Foundation Gareth Cook said: "We would like to say a massive thank you to everyone involved in making this event a success year on year, from the staff at ESF Events and Butlins, the players, parents, coaches and their teams.

"We are proud of how the event has grown over the last ten years and we are delighted that some of the players who have taken part are now playing in the Rhinos teams. Evie Cousins attended with her club Guiseley as a junior made a try scoring debut for Leeds Rhinos Women this year and players from our Academy including Joe Diskin, Harry Smith and Lore Jones-Buchanan have all enjoyed the tournament with their clubs."

You can now relive the weekends with our highlight videos below.

Rugby League