It started with rugby.
It became something bigger.

Meet Pickle, the Person Behind Rugger Pups

“Hi, I’m Michael Green, but pretty much everyone knows me as Pickle!”

Rugby has been a huge part of my life, both as a player and a coach. Originally from New Zealand, I’ve spent much of my life around high-performance rugby, with the game taking me around the world before I settled in the UK. I currently play for Nottingham Rugby.

Alongside playing, I coach children and deliver rugby sessions in schools, where I’m usually known as Coach Pickle. I’ve seen first-hand how sport can help young people grow in confidence, make friends and believe in themselves.

You might notice the Rugger Pups stories have a Pickle too. That Pickle is a German Shepherd and the team captain.

From the rugby pitch to Rugger Pups

Some of the most important lessons the game has given me have nothing to do with a scoreboard.

It has taught me to work with others, get back up when things don't go to plan, look after the people around me and keep trying when something feels difficult.

Through coaching children, I started thinking about how those same lessons could be introduced much earlier, in a way that felt fun, imaginative and easy for young children to understand.

That’s what inspired me to create Rugger Pups. I wanted to bring together my love of rugby, storytelling and working with children to create something that goes beyond the pitch. Not just passing, running and scoring tries, but kindness, resilience and having the courage to keep going.

Why a children's story?

Not every child will grow up playing rugby, and they don't need to.

Rugger Pups uses the fun, energy and teamwork of rugby as the setting for something bigger.

Through Pickle, Angel, Whizz, Spike and Coach Paws, children can explore what it means to be a good teammate, help somebody else, believe in themselves and keep going when things get tough.

The stories are designed to be enjoyed by children whether they've already picked up a rugby ball or have never seen one before.

The PAWS way

At the heart of everything are four simple values:

• P: Play with Purpose
• A: Always Be Kind
• W: Work Together
• S: Stay Safe & Strong

Together, they make PAWS.

They're the values that guide the characters in the stories and the same values we want children to experience through Rugger Pups coaching, activities and learning.

Where Rugger Pups is going

Rugger Pups started with a children's book, but the ambition is to build a world children can experience in different ways.

Stories.
Rugby and movement.
Coaching.
Activities.
Learning.
And, most importantly, plenty of fun.

The goal is for the same characters and PAWS values children meet in the books to carry through everything Rugger Pups creates.

Rugger Pups is about much more than learning to pass a rugby ball. It’s about giving every child the chance to feel included, try something new, work together and have loads of fun along the way.

Better Pups. Brighter Futures.