Stradey Sospans Girls Rugby Welcomes Record Numbers

Despite Women’s Rugby being very much on the rise in recent times, the number of girls both interested in the sport and having the opportunity to play from a young age was causing concern and the WRU decided to tackle this. As part of a new initiative to introduce a Girls Rugby Summer Season, the Stradey Sospans Rugby Hub was created.
Run by Hub Leaders, Sian Morgan and Lianna Davies along with a host of predominately female volunteers, the Stradey Sospans is now entering it’s fourth season and has gone from strength to strength.
Before a ball was even kicked this year, the support from the local community has been described by Chairperson, Nia Phillips, as ‘amazing’ with several local companies offering the hub financial support.
More than ever before, 19 fully-inclusive coaches, many of them female, have also volunteered their services, including Welsh International players and those that currently play for the Scarlets Ladies.
Aimed at girls from the age of 6 upwards, the hub welcomes all abilities with no prior rugby experience necessary. They currently have 7 teams – Under 7’s, Under 9’s and the Under 11’s that play touch rugby. The Under 13’s and Under 15’s play full contact rugby and along with the Under 18’s touch rugby team this season sees the addition of a new Ladies Touch team.
A taster night back in March saw over 90 girls and women turn up and there was one common factor…they all left the pitch with a smile on their faces.
The launch night on April 3rd at Llanelli Wanderers RFC, (the hub’s host rugby team) saw an even greater response, with 105 registering. Cameras from S4C programme ‘Heno’ were there and again, it was a pleasure to see the enjoyment on the faces of the young ladies.
Scarlets’ Uzair Cassiem and Scarlets’ Ladies and Wales’ Ffion Lewis joined the girls for their second training session that saw even more registering to join up.
The Stradey Sospans train every Tuesday evening between 6-7pm at People’s Park in Llanelli until August. During mid week, they will, as the season progresses, play fixtures against other local Girls’ Rugby Hub Teams including The Valley Vixens and The Myrddin Maidens.
At weekends the young ladies will have the opportunity to take part in various festivals held by other Girls Rugby Clusters all over Wales. Stradey Sospans hold their own festival on July 21st 2019.
Hub Leader, Sian Morgan commented, “Our philosophy is to engage girls in the sport, to have fun, make new friends, get fit and learn new skills.”
Anyone interested in joining the Stradey Sospans Rugby Hub can text or phone Lianna on 07708196849 or check out their social media – Stradey Sospans Girls Rugby on Facebook, @StradeySopsans on Twitter, stradeysopans on Instagram or they can be emailed on stradeysospans@yahoo.com