Dedicated Girls’ Grades kick off in Canterbury

The rich history of Female Rugby continues to grow, with a new Junior Girls’ Grade beginning this week.

Aimed at girls’ in Year 5/6/7, the new grade kicked off at Nunweek Park on Monday at 5.30pm, attracting teams from Rolleston, Prebbleton and Kaiapoi, and a number of individuals who came along to have a go, with three more teams in the process of forming now from Ōtautahi, Merivale Papanui and Marist Albion. The smiles on the faces of the girls was great to see!

Part of the appeal to running the grade on a Monday is also to attract those who are not currently playing rugby too, with a number of this week’s participants Netball, Hockey and Football players.

The aim was also to start an Intermediate Girls grade, there is one team set to go so we are looking for more girls to join in the Year 7/8 age group as well.

There is always space for more players and teams, with both Monday night grades open to more entrants. For more information, please register here.

On Wednesday, the first day of the Miles Toyota Cup, the female 1st XV competition, kicked off, with trainings and shortened games getting the teams underway.

With the support of Canterbury Rugby’s Game Development team, Matatū’s Whitney Hansen, and Black Ferns Pip Love, Amy Rule and Grace Brooker, the teams were put through their paces as they prepared for the first of the pre-season matches.

The competition is slightly different this year with two different teams each week receiving specialised coaching specific to them while the others play their games, to assist in building the skill set of the players, many of whom are new to rugby.

Female rugby is an exciting space right now with good interest from keen participants and a level of support that hasn’t been available before with the introduction of the first two full time coaching roles in the country between Matatū and Canterbury Rugby with Whitney and Jimmy Sinclair’s appointment, thanks must also go to the clubs and their volunteers who are working really hard to pull teams together to give the girls opportunities.