Luffin’ 2026
The school tour they'll remember!
How much do students love sport in your school?
Are you looking for something more from your school tours?
Do you want to take part in a school tour that will leave you students Laughing while they take part, Loving that they got the opportunity to go to your school and Living their dreams out in the school colours?
Well 2026 gives you that very opportunity…
IT’S THE YEAR OF LUFFIN!
Luffin is a school tour built around an invitational tournament in the sport for which your school is known. Taking place in the English town of Loughborough (pronounced Luff-borough), it combines the elements that make any tour attractive to students, but much more.
It is an invitation tour only and places are limited; we expect that the schools taking part in the first running of the event in 2026 will return year on year. If that’s your school, you will have first option on taking one of the available places thereafter.
THE VENUE
Loughborough University
Situated in the Midlands, Loughborough isn’t just one of the UK’s leading sports universities, it is the best. It has been ranked as the number one university in the world to study sports-related subjects in the QS World University Rankings every year since the inception of this category in 2017. The sport facilities onsite walk hand in hand with this elite status. We will have access to their state of the art playing pitches and ancillary facilities for our tournaments. If Loughborough University is good enough for the likes of Daniel Wiffen, Seb Coe , Henry Pollock and a whole host of national sports bodies who use the Uni as their base, it’s good enough for us!
With 3 top-class hotels onsite (the 4* Burleigh Court Hotel, the 3* Link Hotel and the Elite Athlete Centre Hotel), our groups will be within easy reach of all of the facilities. Your students will be sharing the same top-class facilities as countless Olympic and World champions have used over the years.
THE TOUR
What does it involve?
The tour is a 2-night / 3-day tour that takes the following shape…
Day 1
Arrival day
- Meet-up in Dublin, your group boards the coach to take you to Dublin port.
- Morning sailing from Dublin to Holyhead.
- Break up your day with a stop in the Trafford Centre in Manchester, one of the U.K.’s largest and best-known shopping centres. A chance to lunch (and the shopping is up to you).
- Continue to Loughborough University, where you will spend 2 nights in a mix of 3 and 4* hotels on site.
- Evening meal and opening ceremony – to whet your appetite for the event to come!
Day 2
Sports Event
- After breakfast, let the games begin!
- Luffin is unique in its thinking; schools from across Ireland take part in a festival of sport for the full day.
- Using the grounds and facilities in the U.K.’s leading sports university, the tournament will see up to 32 teams pit themselves against new opponents. The format is designed to maximise the time that students get to play, but also to encourage their creative side by using a slightly different set of rules to what they are used to playing under.
- Lunch and entertainment for the day is part of the event.
- Evening meal and prize-giving finishes off the day.
Day 3
- Breakfast in Loughborough, followed by departure to Alton Towers, the U.K.’s leading theme park.
- Set in a country estate, Alton Towers combines the grandeur of an old country estate with the thrills of an array of white-knuckle rollercoasters.
- In the afternoon, depart Alton Towers for the return ferry from Dublin to Holyhead (evening sailing).
LUFFIN
The Tournament
Each tournament is designed to maximise the time that a student gets to play.
In hockey, soccer and rugby, the games will be 7-a-side (from panels of 10), while in camogie, hurling, gaelic football and ladies football, it will be 10-a-side (from panels of 13). While there will be multiple finals across each sport / tournament, the emphasis will be on fun, being creative and teams being similar in ability. For example, if a school brings 4 teams, it’s expected that the 4 teams would be roughly similar in ability. Stacking one team is an absolute no; that goes against the spirit of the tournament. Various finals will be held involving teams who turn out to be similar in ability; being the best or 9th best team will offer similar chances of a prize!
PRICING
What is Included?
- 2 nights’ accommodation onsite – either a 3* or 4* hotel.
- Meals: evening meal x2 / breakfast x2 / lunch x1.
- Lecture theatre hire for opening and closing ceremonies.
- Ferry: return sailing from Dublin to Holyhead.
- Coach hire: from Dublin Port to Dublin Port – the coach stays with you for
the duration of the trip. - Note: Coach transfers to and from your school can
be built into the package as well. - Entrance to Alton Towers theme park.
- Full access to Loughborough’s playing facilities on the day of the
tournament. - Entertainment for the day of the tournament as well as for the opening
and closing ceremonies. - Medical support: 2 x paramedic ambulances on the day of the tournament.
- Travel Insurance: Premier Plus policy – the highest level of support offered
by Blue Insurance, Ireland’s largest travel insurance provider. - Student playing gear: All students will get a Luffin gear bag as well as two jerseys – one in the colours of the school and a second jersey as a once-off commemorative jersey of the tournament.
- Teacher playing gear: Each teacher will get a once off Luffin half-zip top.
- Free teacher places: Each school booking has one teacher per team
registered, as well as one group leader.
OUR TARGET MARKET
The School
Every school in the country has a Mission Statement; setting out the hopes it has for its students. What you will rarely see mentioned is one of the most important aspects of a school’s daily fabric and its general essence – the sport for which it is famous.
It’s a factor in students deciding where they want to attend second-level school and in many cases, it’s what makes them want to come to school each day. Sport shapes and moulds them, and it teaches them about the challenges and rewards of life in general.
Luffin is a tour option that offers more than just a regular city school tour, it ties in with your school’s unwritten mission statement.
The Student
We all dream big, sure who wouldn’t want to be a Katie McCabe, David Clifford, Brian O’Driscoll or Vikki Wall? Before we reach the stars, before we dream of wearing that national or county jersey, that youngster aims to wear the jersey of their club or school. And that’s where Luffin comes in.
School sport in can very quickly graduate towards the first team, the team that enters the competitions. But there many other students in the school who also want to represent the school, to pull on your school jersey – but perhaps never get the chance because of the competitive nature of school sport.
Luffin wants to give that student a chance; a tournament and school trip where every student is an equal competitor, where every student puts on the school jersey (and gets to take it home with them). The hidden talent, the late bloomer, the student who loves their sport but doesn’t make the first team for the competitions; there is a place for them in Luffin.
WHAT NEXT
How to register your school's interest
Please email steps@caminogroups.ie and leave your contact details. These events have limited spaces so drop us an email to secure your schools’ place!
