First Girls’ Rugby Team Ever!
Rugby Coach and Geography teacher, Ellie Smales, was proud to announce the first ever girls’ rugby team fixtures to her enthusiastic group of Fryer girls who are keen to take part in such a fantastic sport. The group were inspired by their experiences in co-curricular club rugby last year and were so committed that they were even eager to attend additional practice at the weekend.
With just two training sessions under their belts, the Year 7 and 8 students clearly had a taste for the game and entered a local competition against four other schools. On Monday 21st March the Year 7s captained by Tyler and the Year 8s captained by Emily faced Holme Grange, Bohunt School, Maiden Erlegh and Reddam House in a contact rugby tournament.
Speaking about her hopes for the games ahead Ellie commented, “Two of the players, Sofia and Emily, both play rugby for Reading which is helpful and I think they’ll do alright actually; they haven’t played that much but the girls have no fear which is amazing!”
Sam Bowers and Alice Ledsom (PE Dept) accompanied the team to their tournament as Ellie was on a Geography field trip. Sam reported, “The girls played four matches and came off the pitch with a huge smile each time no matter the result. The Year 8s won their first ever match comprehensively against Maiden Erlegh and the Year 7s lost by just 1 try against Maiden Erlegh. Both teams battled hard against strong sides from Reddam and Bohunt with the Year 7s holding on for a draw against the overall winners Bohunt. The girls were fantastic all afternoon and the weather certainly helped it to be a great event for all involved. A massive well done to Tyler, Mia and Eva for getting player of the match medals across the tournament and also to Tyler and Mia for playing up a year group in the final Year 8 match. The future of LP girls’ rugby looks very promising and I am looking forward to helping to grow and develop it with Ellie!”
The team will continue to train together in the Summer Term Co-Curricular programme and next academic year the new Director of Sport, Simon Bradley, will be introducing Girls’ Rugby into the PE curriculum alongside the traditional mix of Hockey, Netball, Football, Tennis, Cricket, Athletics and Swimming.
