It can be hard for clubs to decide whether to enter the various Sevens Tournaments which take place during the Summer Term, but exams are not stopping two schools from our part of the world putting their best feet forward.

Wisbech Grammar School only started offering Girls (Sevens) Rugby this winter, and the National Sevens will be their first major tournament.

East Norfolk 6th Form College won the National Schools Sevens a few weeks ago, despite not having a single club rugby player in their squad. With most of their team being experienced Association Football players, they demonstrated real flair for putting the ball into space (by hand of course!), and were deserved winners against schools and colleges containing experienced regional players, and in one case an England U20 International. At the end of May they could well give several clubs entrants a nasty fright.

The very best of luck to both!

Update 8th April: Wisbech advise that they will also be entering the Hertfordshire Sevens on Sunday 18th May, for which entries appear still to be open.

Your club Girls Section could win a grant of up to £5,000, or for a Capital Project, up to £10,000.

The application has to be led by players rather than adults, but possible ideas which could help a girls section and which came to my mind include:

“We don’t have enough players - a grant will pay for a coach to go into local schools and help us recruit”

“We can’t all get to away fixtures and joint training sessions - a grant will help pay for minibus rental”

There will, I am sure, be other things which come to your minds, and you will need to seek advice from you local Connexions Service.

In Suffolk at least, grants are decided upon locally, not county-wide, so if other counties work the same way, there should be very few instances of clubs competing with each other for funds.

For your information, follow the links for the Suffolk guidelines and application pack

In Suffolk, applications for the first round close on 15th May

But thanks to some very speedy work this (Friday) evening by Mandy Burroughes of Wymondham, who is organising the hosting of the day, we have another venue.

We will now be playing at THETFORD, who have very kindly stepped into the breach at incredibly short notice.

Please note that we have had to move things forward by an hour, so we will be meeting at 12.30 FOR A 13.00 KICK-OFF.

Mandy will be bringing her food supplies down the A11, and setting up shop in the Thetford Kitchen, so players will be fed after the game as normal.

Map here
Address:
Two Mile Bottom
Munford Road
Thetford
Norfolk
IP24 1LW
Club Number: 01842 755176

About Girls Play!
The “Girls Play!” programme is designed to offer players the chance to apply the basic skills they have learnt at their home clubs in a game environment with a good number of players.

You can download general information here

The Final Day of this year’s Girls Play! Programme will be at Wymondham RFC this Sunday 30th March. Click the link for directions.

Please arrive at 1.30pm for a 2pm start, and if you have not done so already, email numbers to Eulalie Mayers (Programme Manager) as soon as possible.

About Girls Play!
The “Girls Play!” programme is designed to offer players the chance to apply the basic skills they have learnt at their home clubs in a game environment with a good number of players

You can download general information here

England won the Grand Slam (again), further strengthening our position at the top of Northern Hemisphere Rugby - and when did you last hear that said of our men’s team?

……….but I digress……….

This post is in fact about an outstanding athlete achieving her 100th Cap for her country. By day, Lou Rickard teaches at Woodbridge School. The rest of the time, she plays both for Woodbridge Amazons, and, more importantly, for Wales - a mere 5 hours drive from home.

The Welsh Rugby Union is honouring this achievement both with a prose piece on their website which starts with the words: “Gareth Thomas’s reign as Wales’s sole centurion will end on Saturday as one of the bastions of Welsh Women’s rugby gains her 100th cap”. and with a video interview. Both are well worth a visit.

Very Many Congratulations, Lou!

On 27th April they will host a mixed tag sevens tournament in aid of one of our most important charities - the East Anglian Air Ambulance.

Our Air Ambulance is one of the best in the country, and receives no government or lottery funding - despite the helicopter which serves Norfolk and Suffolk costing over £100,00 each month to keep flying.

You can download full information about the competition here and sponsorship forms here

Tag rugby is great fun, and a great way to introduce newcomers to rugby, so if you are not involved in the regional programme or the U15 development fixture that day, get hold of your brothers, parents, and friends and enter!

If you have any questions, please email Simon at Beccles or ring him on 07786 234808

As well as hosting the rest of us, Beccles will be taking part in their first ever Girls Rugby event, having been training since January. Both the Upper and Middle schools in Beccles offer girls the chance to play rugby, so those girls who have joined the club so far have every chance of growing a strong team if we can show them how great it can be when clubs get together.

With most of the Beccles girls being U18s, please can clubs encourage their older players in particular to make the trip. There are two more days to go after this (Diss 16th March and Wymondham 30th March), so there is a great opportunity for us to end this programme on a real high, with far more players involved than the 18 U15s who attended the first day.

A map showing Beccles RUFC location is here

The club looks forward to welcoming you at 11.00 for kickoff at 11.30. Unlike many clubs, they even have the luxury of dedicated female changing facilities.

Directions:
Turn right at the roundabout by Morrisons, follow the road down passed the DIY store and over the mini roundabout, keep going passed the petrol station and car sales, and follow the road round as it turns sharp left, over the level crossing, then first left down Common Lane, the turning for the club is left, just after the allotments.

Finally, please don’t forget to notify numbers to to Eulalie Mayers (Programme Manager)

Shortly there will be an Entry Level Refereeing (ELRA) Course aimed specifically at those involved with the Women’s and Girls’ Game - be they male or female. Most places have already been reserved, but there are a few more places available, so long as you move fast.

Very many thanks to Eastern Counties for funding, and to the Eastern Counties Referees Federation for their help and support

When
Saturday 29th March and Saturday 5th April

Where
Ipswich - precise venue to follow

Cost
Juniors and Students - Free
Adults - The plan, subject to demand, is to reduce the cost from £40.00 incl VAT to £20.00 incl VAT. To be eligible for a subsidy, you must belong to an ECRU club or girls / women’s section (or be the parent/guardian of a player) which is affiliated to the RFUW, and plan to use your new found skills in support of female rugby.

The intention is two-fold:

- To encourage any female over the age of 16 to wishes to qualify as a referee. Whether you are interested in ‘taking up the whistle’, or just in improving your all-round understanding of the game, you are equally welcome.

- To start growing the number of referees who are interested in supporting the growth of Women’s and Girls’ Rugby in this part of the country.

Eastern Counties want to support a rapid growth in the Women’s and Girls’ game over the next five years - and the more players we have, the more referees we will need.

What do I need to do?
Please email Vincent Acheson as soon as possible , giving the names and contact details (especially Email addresses) of players, parents or other volunteers you have at your club who wish to take this course.