Berkshire Unicorns inclusive rugby club 'provides a home' for members

"You don't have to hide any part of yourself" says Berkshire Unicorns RFC tighthead prop John Hamp.

The Unicorns are a fully inclusive rugby club - with the majority of their members being part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Their full contact 1st XV team competes against other inclusive teams from across the world.

They recently won the International Gay Rugby (IGR) UK league for the first time in their seven year history.

Mr Hamp said: "With any inclusive rugby team, the need is that there are people who really enjoy rugby and really enjoy the sport, but haven't necessarily found their home in a traditional club setup."

"We provide a home and a welcoming environment where anyone and everyone can come and learn the sport."

The team train and play their home games at Maidenhead RFC - and have a touch rugby side as well as their 1st XV.

Mr Hamp, who is the teams' communications manager, said that an inclusive club meant "regardless of any of your defining features or characteristics, especially for us that includes a sexual orientation, you can join our club and find a safe and welcoming environment - somewhere that you can be yourself".

"I have a rugby family, and I tried as a child, and it just didn't feel right for me - I knew that I was a bit different, I think other people knew that I felt different, and it didn't feel comfortable for me," he said.

It was only the death of a loved one that brought Mr Hamp back to the sport.

"Sadly my my father passed away and I needed to do something; I needed something different - there was a need to be with community that understood me and a connection that I wanted to get back involved in rugby."

"So I found the unicorns, and it was the perfect marriage of those two things."

The club was founded in a Windsor Park in 2016 - and has grown in size to over 50 playing and social members.

This season, the Unicorns went unbeaten - scoring over 400 points across their 11 games in the process.

Mr Hamp, who has been at the club for four years, said the success feels "very good", and that it highlighted they are "no different from any other rugby club".

The 32-year-old said the next big goal for the club would be to officially join the England Rugby pyramid and enrol in a local merit league.

"I don't think the future of inclusivity is to remain completely off, because you've only reached inclusivity when you don't need to be separated," he said.

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