Choccy Tuesdays: Where rugby boys gather and eat chocolate together on Tuesdays

On the third week of this term, second year rugby boys Alistair Mankin and Tom Gretton birthed a magnificent creation to go down in sporting history… and it has nothing to do with actually playing rugby.

They call it: “Choccy Tuesdays” – where the team gather and eat chocolate together on a Tuesday night.

So what’s so special about 20-odd rugby boys ruining their sculpted rigs with Dairy Milk?

Carb-loading the night prior to the big game on Wednesday is a recognised tactic for all university sports teams, but these chaps have taken it one step further.

Though gorging on chocolate may not seem like an elite society, invitations to this exclusive club are covetable, giving that Mars bar a nutritious and social satisfaction.

The Man, The Myth, The Legend: Thomas Gretton

But these boys don’t want to stay as secretive and exclusive. They’re striving to do the opposite. Mankin and Gretton, in the words of their mission statement, wish to “promote the gross consumption of choccy on a Tuesday across Durham and worldwide.”

By next year this movement will hopefully have spread to university sports teams across the UK. Watch this space.

Gross consumption. That’s what we like to see

Freshers have already coyly admitted at training that they’ve been inspired and set up their own Choccy Tuesdays; music to the founders’ ears.

Although first years weren’t invited to the original Choccy gatherings, this term, a “Wispa Leaderboard” has been introduced, in which a select few freshers will participate.

What began as a small chocolate-orientated gathering at Crossgate has already got impressive momentum. Existing discount deals with “Sweet Tooth” Durham and a solid friendship with its owner promises potential future sponsorship, whilst there have even been talks with Sweet Tooth of a diabetes-inducing social in the DSU at the end of the year.

These Augustus Gloop-inspired rugby boys mean business.

Sweet Tooth’s owner, Choccy Tuesday’s honorary member.

So what do these macho athletes actually do on a Tuesday? The answer is Geordie Shore. A good catch up on the week’s gossip. And afterwards, an assortment of games.

What may seem like a tween girl’s sleepover quickly escalated last term. The police were called to Mankin’s house for a noise complaint, as the boys had engaged in their weekly chocolate boat race outside, which had got just a little too rowdy.

Tricky one trying to explain to the fuzz that 20 stocky rugby boys were in fact stone cold sober, just a bit hyper on a Tuesday night.

Choc’s the only substance they need 

Towards the end of last term, after creating the club’s prestigious logo, honorary badges were made for members, of which I have spotted on the lapels of certain purple blazers on Loveshack Wednesdays.

Still not convinced? It’s legit. Just look at their Twitter account:

From Mankin to You: Never stop consuming choccy