Grasshoppers St Georges Day girls festival
10 May 2012Grasshoppers hosted the third successive St Georges Day Festival on Saturday 21st April, before attending the Harlequins v Tigers Premiership match.
The event which was organised by Clare Cooper, RFUW Women’s Development Manager (London & South East) was a great success, with 17 teams taking part in the competition. Girls were able to take part in a variety of formats, from U13 tag to U18 contact tens. The shortened formats meant that more teams could compete against each other, and games could be completed in time for the Premiership kick-off at The Stoop!
England’s Maggie Alphonsi was on hand to support the girls and talk to them about her rugby experiences, as well as to cast her eye over the future players who will one day hopefully progress into County and Divisional Rugby and even further. Maggie’s day job is as a Divisional Talent Development Officer for the RFUW, and she was excited by what she saw. “It’s so good to see new players to the game having a good day out and enjoying their rugby. The U13s contact competition has been really exciting, and I’m impressed with the tackling and off-loading! There are some really talented young players out there!”
Upper Clapton RFC brought two U13 Tag teams to the event, including some players as young as 8 years old! This was the first festival the girls teams had been to, and they had a great day. Upper Clapton RFC and West Essex Sports Partnership have recently been awarded the Presidents XV Runners Up prize for the 2012 Women & Girls Development Category, and Maggie Alphonsi kindly presented them with their trophy and a cheque for £100.
The girls and their coaches and families then enjoyed a very entertaining and high-scoring match between Harlequins and Leicester Tigers. For many, this was their first experience of watching a live Premiership rugby match, and their visit to The Stoop rounded off a great day of rugby.
The results from the competition were:
U13 Tag Winners: Grasshoppers RFC
U13 Contact Winners: Ellingham Sirens
U15 Contact Winners: Medway
U18 Contact Winners: Medway
For information on Women & Girls Rugby in London & South East, or to find out about next years Competition, please contact clarecooper@rfu.com
