We appeared on BBC Gloucestershire this week, after they spotted a tweet from us appealing for help to find a pair of size 17 boots. Joe Goodridge who has recently joined the senior team has been with the club since he was eight-years-old and has grown to 6ft 6, with very big feet.
His coach, Mark Woodham, described the 18-year-old as like “Bambi on ice”, due to the lack of appropriate footwear.
With it impossible to get suitable studded boots, the club hopes to find someone who can custom make the boots.
Joe is in his first year of men’s rugby and has been playing in moulded boots without studs, which fail to give him enough grip while playing. “It makes it quite difficult in the scrum because I’ve got very little traction,” said Joe. Mark Woodham said the boots Joe currently have cause him to slip, which impacts his performance.
“There are moments on the pitch where you are looking at him going ‘please stop skating around like Bambi on ice’,” he said. “We need a decent set of boots for him so he can really grow and be the player he can really be.”
Director of Rugby at Tewkesbury RFC, Martin Thomas, wrote a tweet asking for help to find a pair of size 17 boots.
“I have a grassroots rugby player who is 18 and 6’6′ tall with size 17 feet playing for our team. He cannot find rugby boots that big. Is there anyone out there who is willing to help?” he said.
Despite the call out, the club said it has yet to source a pair of boots.
Mark Woodham said: “The chance of us buying something off the shelf is very slim, but if there’s a way for us to crowdfund and buy some boots for Joe that are specially made, the club is up for it.”
Copyright BBC Gloucestershire