The Rhinos Challenge is a touring festival. Accommodation for your whole group, including players, club officials and families/spectators, must be booked through ESF Events. Individuals who are not booked through ESF Events are not part of the event and do not have permission to attend the playing venues as a player, official or spectator, or to attend the presentation ceremonies at Butlin’s. If members of your group (players, club officials, spectators) attend the event but have not booked accommodation through ESF Events, the team will not be permitted to participate in the festival.
Click here for details on how to register your team/Club for the Rhinos Challenge and how to book accommodation at Butlin’s resorts.
No netball/rugby is played on the day of arrival. Accommodation units should be available from 4pm – Butlin’s will confirm your check in time prior to your break. Guests can arrive on resort from 1pm and use the facilities at Butlin’s. There will be a full evening entertainment programme on the Friday. Our welcome meeting for coaches will take place on Friday evening at around 8pm.
All teams will participate in a two day festival that take place on both the Saturday & Sunday. Each age section will be organised in accordance with the England Netball/RFU guidelines. The event format will vary depending on the number of teams registered in each age section, but teams typically play 6 – 8 fixtures over the weekend.
The celebrity presentation ceremonies take place on the Sunday afternoon/evening. Teams are welcome to travel home on the Sunday evening after the presentation, or Monday morning.
Check out of accommodation is 10.00am but you do not have to leave the resort until Midday.
There are no Team Entry Fees to enter the Rhinos Challenge. All costs involved with staging the festival are included in the accommodation charges. As such, it is a condition of entry to the festival that all members of your touring party (players, coaches, officials, family members etc.), book accommodation through ESF Events.
The festival is played on the Saturday and Sunday with all teams typically playing 6 – 8 games over the weekend. The festival format will vary depending on the number of teams registered in each age section.
A final briefing email will be sent to the Group Leaders of all participating teams 7 – 10 days before the festival takes place. The final briefing will include the festival format, schedules, rules and venue information. At that stage, the Rhinos Challenge APP will also go live, displaying festival fixtures, schedules and other useful information.
Participating teams are required to complete a player registration form, which includes the name and date of birth of all players to be registered for the festival.
If you have any queries regarding the eligibility of players, please contact ESF Events by telephone on 01664 56360, or via email at info@rhinosschallenge.co.uk or netball@rhinoschallenge.co.uk
Once the club is registered, ESF Events will email the Group Leader a unique accommodation booking link for each age section registered. Group Leaders can simply forward this email to the parents in your group, who can then book accommodation for their family/friends on the ESF Events section of the Butlin’s website, through the accommodation booking link. Your party will be given an Accommodation Booking Deadline by ESF Events, which is normally 3 weeks after your team(s) registration has been accepted. A deposit of £30 per person is required to book accommodation. The final balance for accommodation will be due no later than 10 weeks before the festival. Final balance payments can be made by families at www.butlins.com/pay
Accommodation is allocated strictly on a first-come first-served basis. All sizes and grades of accommodation are subject to availability. If you select a particular size or grade of accommodation which is no longer available, you will be offered the nearest alternative.
UNOCCUPIED BEDS: In cases where a unit of accommodation is booked leaving unoccupied beds, a full subsidy will be charged. i.e If 3 people book a 4 berth unit of accommodation, they would have to pay for 4 people. Infants under the age of 2 years, who go free if you bring along your own cot, do not count towards the occupancy of a unit. At all Butlin’s resorts you can hire a cot for a fee of £10 (linen is not provided) or pay a supplement if an infant under 2 sleeps in a bed.
Each guest who has booked accommodation through ESF Events will receive a Rhinos Challenge wristband when they check in at Butlin’s. The ESF Events wristband is required to attend the playing venues as a player, club official or spectator, attend the presentation ceremony at Butlin’s, and enter evening entertainment venues at Butlin’s.
Event wristbands are not available to purchase separately. If you are not booked through ESF Events at Butlin’s, you are not part of the event and do not have permission to attend the playing venues as a player, official or spectator, or to attend the presentation ceremonies at Butlin’s.
Half Board Dining Plans at Butlin’s include breakfast and evening meal. Evening meal is included on the day of arrival, but not if you arrive after the restaurant is closed. Breakfast is included on the day of departure. The meal times are scheduled so they don’t clash with your festival fixtures.
At least one responsible adult over the age of 21 must occupy each unit of accommodation. A minimum adult to child ratio of 1 to 2 is required for your party by Butlin’s.
School Groups – Please contact ESF Events for further details regarding supervision conditions, which are different for school groups.
The Rhinos Challenge is covered for ‘Public Liability’ insurance by ESF Events. However, this does not cover individual teams or ‘person to person’ public liability, personal accident or injury whilst attending the festival. We strongly recommend that all participating clubs, if they are not already covered, should take out insurance cover for these risks.
We also strongly recommend all members of your party take out appropriate holiday insurance. ESF Events are not responsible for the property of individuals attending the Rhinos Challenge, both at Butlin’s resort or at the festival venues.
Click here to view the Terms & Conditions of booking, which include cancellation conditions.
If you need to cancel your Team/Club registration at the Rhinos Challenge, the Group Leader for the booking must email ESF Events to notify us that the Team/Club are withdrawing from the festival.
Please note – The Initial Deposit Payment paid by the Team/Club to register for the Rhinos Challenge will not be refunded to Teams/Clubs who cancel their registration.
Click here to view the Terms & Conditions of booking, which include cancellation conditions at Butlin’s.
It is the responsibility of the Group Leader and adults in the group to ensure the behaviour of all members of your touring party is acceptable at all times while on tour.
The Rhinos Challenge Code of Conduct will be forwarded to all Group Leaders prior to the festival. This Code of Conduct must be accepted and adhered to by all members of your group whilst in attendance at the festival, both at the playing venue and at Butlin’s.
Clubs will be charged for any damages caused by members of their group. In extreme cases of unacceptable behaviour, ESF Events and the Resort Management reserve the right to terminate a tour/holiday, whereby part or all of a Team/Club may be eliminated from the festival and required to leave the playing venue and Butlin’s resort, without refund.
The Rhinos Challenge is organised and staged by ESF Events Ltd (Company Registration Number 7695303).
Registered Address: ESF Events Ltd, 18A Park Lane, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, LE13 0PT
Tel: 01664 566360. Email: info@esfevents.co.uk
Please note – Phone calls made to ESF Events Ltd may be recorded for training and monitoring purposes.
The Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust Limited (ABTOT) provides financial protection under The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 for ESF Events Limited number 5165 and in the event of their insolvency, protection is provided for:
Please note that:
ABTOT cover provides for a refund in the event you have not yet travelled or repatriation if transportation was included in your package. In the unlikely event that you require assistance whilst abroad due to our financial failure, please call our 24/7 helpline on 01702 811397 and advise you are a customer of an ABTOT protected travel company.
You can access The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/634/contents/made
You can find out more about ABTOT here: https://www.abtot.com/
To the best of our knowledge, all information contained on this website and in all Rhinos Challenge marketing literature is accurate at the time of publication/print. Please be aware that there may be occasions when the facilities listed at the holiday resorts are modified or unavailable due to factors beyond our control.
Click here to view the Terms & Conditions of booking. ESF Events Ltd reserve the right to amend these Terms at any time, you will be notified of any changes.
By making a Booking and/or participating in the Event, you acknowledge that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by these Terms & Conditions.
Sign up to our mailing list to receive further details, including the latest availability for the 2026 Rhinos Challenge festivals.
Request details
