Herts County U15's

The Herts U15 Management and Coaches had a meeting after the Session today and agreed that we would delay naming the Herts U15 A Team starting 13 for the first County Festival (on 4/11) until after the final County Session at Welwyn RFC on 21/10. This is because 34 Girls have now attended at least one of the Herts U15 County Sessions (on 9/9 and today) and as there are a number of Players who are new to the Herts County set-up this Season we want to give them as great an opportunity as possible to press their claims for a place in the Herts U15 A Team. We also have enough Players to form two Herts Girls U15 Squads this Season and propose to take both Squads to the 3 County Festivals that we are attending.

Girls Rugby again represented on Herts County Elite Athlete Support Programme

Nine athletes, including Hannah Gallagher from Welwyn Warriors, have been selected from a wide range of Sports to take part in the County Elite Athlete Support Programme this year. Each will receive individual nutrition consultations, physiotherapy assessments, individual and small group training sessions with a strength and conditioning coach and performance lifestyle advice. The programme has a value of approximately £800 per athlete. The athletes are aged between 14 and 17 years of age and have either been selected to represent England, are part of a national development squad or have competed in national competitions. All training sessions take place at the University of Hertfordshire Sports Village. Last year Megan Williams of Welwyn Warriors was one of ten athletes selected.

U18 Talent Development Group (TDG) 2007/08

The Under 18 TDG of 35 for 2007/08 has been announced by the RFUW and includes 3 Hertfordshire Players. 2 Welwyn Warriors Players, Megan Williams and Hannah Gallagher, have been re-selected and they have been joined this Season by teammate Alex Robertson. The TDG will participate in sessions held both nationally and locally throughout the season.

U15s and U12s this Sunday

The second day of county training and trials is taking place at Welwyn this Sunday (30th September). County selections will be made for both U18 and U15 squads, and we will be continuing to build a U12 team for fixtures later this Autumn.

There was a disappointing turnout at the first county day in some age groups this year and the county are keen to see as many of you as possible this Sunday as they wish to have two teams in both the U18 and U15 age bands this season. Particularly at U15 level enthusiasm is far more important than experience so don't let the fact that you're a newcomer to the sport hold you back. Having two teams at these age bands will allow us to arrange more fixtures against other counties which may be at different stages of development.

U18s County Trial this Sunday.

Any girls that have an injury and are unable to attend, please ask your club coach to confirm this to me before Sunday in order that we will be aware of your situation. For the remaining girls, on arrival at Welwyn on Sunday, will you please confirm your name & club to me so that I can confirm your attendance.

Many thanks,

Dave Marques,
U18s Team Manager

U12s: First fixture arranged!

Great news for the U12s - the first inter-county fixture has been confirmed. At a meetng yesterday evening Essex confirmed that they will be putting a team together to play a Hertfordshire U12s team at the Essex Girls' Rugby Festival in Harlow on 18th November.

We are still working on dates before that so this may not actually be the first fixture the team eventually plays, but it is the first that we ahve been able to ink into the diary.

County meeting: a reminder

A reminder that the next meeting of the Herts Women's and Girls' Development Group will be taking place at Welwyn RFC on Monday (24th) starting at 7.30.

Apart from discussions about the development of the game in the county at all levels, and the development of county teams, it will also be a chance to meeting the new RFUW Club and Coaching officer (see below) and hear more about his role and how he can help your club.

Amanda Bate, the regional WRDM, will also be present - so make sure your club is represented.

Herts Club Coach Officer

Amanda Bate has advised that the new RFUW Club Coach Officer (CCO) for Hertfordshire is Andrew Skipper. He will be working with Club, County and Regional Coaches, County Teams and TDG’s in the East Region (comprising Eastern Counties, Essex and Herts).

RFUW expands club and coach support

The RFUW have appointed ten "Club and Coach Officers" (CCOs) for the new season. These new officials will be responsible for supporting the "development of women’s and girls rugby across the country" with an "extensive remit" which will include player development, coach development and club development.

The officials have each been allocated a "region", but not regions that necessarily match either the existing RFUW or RFU regions - so at this stage it is not clear whether Herts's CCO will be Maggie Alphonsi (who will be the "London" CCO) or Andrew Skipper from St Josephs College in Ipswich (where he was the Director of Rugby) who will be CCO of the "East". More information on this (and the exact role the CCOs will have) once it emerges.

County U15s - a great first session!

Message from Peter to all the U15s...

We hope you enjoyed the first Herts U15 Girls County Training Session of the Season yesterday. Well done to you all, whether you are an ‘experienced Old Pro’ or a ‘Rookie’.

There were 30 x U15 Players yesterday and we were delighted that so many took part (and I know that at least another 4 couldn’t make it). The next County Afternoon is taking place at Welwyn RFC on Sun 30/9 starting once again at 2.00. As there are now so many of you it opens up the possibility of a County A and B Squad, which we will decide after that Afternoon. If there are other U15 Players at your Club that didn’t come yesterday, please invite them to come next time.

Please keep practicing everything Simon taught you yesterday. We look forward to seeing you again on 30/9.

County fixtures

The following dates have been confirmed for U15 and U18 teams. We are currently checking to see if U12s will also be able to take part:

• 21st October: County training for squads (probably at Welwyn) (if U12s go to Rochford on the 14th then this session will be U15s and U18s only)
• 4th November: Middlesex festival (v East Midlands, Hampshire, and Middlesex)
• 18th November: Essex festival (at Harlow RFC - opposition to be confirmed)
• 2nd December: East Midlands Festival at Newark (TBC)

County U12s - after the first ever session

Excellent turnout yesterday by the new U12s section - but still time for more to join in. We had 14 girls, half of whom had only previously played tag, but by the end of the session everyone was playing full contact - and enjoying it too.

The next session will be on 30th September, probably at Welwyn again - 2pm start. We know this clashes with a tournament in North Herts, but this only affects a minority of the girls - and moreover the more experienced players - and it is really the newer girls we need to work with if we are to be ready for the Rochford Festival on 14th October (only two weeks later!).

The main things we want to look at next time will be areas not covered this week - mainly forward set-pieces like scrums and line-out, but also mauls - mainly so that everyone has an idea about what the rules are!

In the meanwhile well done everyone - and if you have any friends who also might like to play, bring them along too!

County permission/registration forms

The registration forms for county squads/training have been updated (see link on the right) and a very slightly different form has also been produced for U12 girls. Please complete an appropriate form and bring it along on Sunday in order to speed up the processing so that we can ensure a prompt start.

The forms are on Word format. If this causes any problems please contact the blog editor (link also on the right).

Junior club fixture exchange service

Gravesend Gremlins in Kent have launched a ‘Fixture X-Change’ service on their website.. In theory this is just for South East clubs to use, but in practice I'm sure they'd have no objection if clubs from other regions used the service.


As they say, using the contacts, smaller clubs can also get together with others to form clusters.

Go to: http://www.gravesend-gremlins.org.uk/ and click on Fixture X-Change at the top

County Day - next Sunday

A final reminder that the season's first "county day" is next Sunday at Welwyn, starting at 2pm. U18s will be having their county trials, but for U15s and especilly U12s a rather more relaxed development/"come-and-try-it" session is planned.

The U12 band is a new venture, aimed at girls who in previous years would have been able to play girls rugby at U14 level but who now cannot do so due to age band changes. The concern is that many of these girls who in years past would have taken the game up, or moved over from mini rugby, will now not do so and might otherwise be lost to the game - the drop out rate amongst girls in mini rugby is very high indeed between ages 9 and 11 as girls feel increasingly isolated in largely boys teams.

The aim therefore to to try to get enough girls to form at least one "squad" which can meet to play or train together once a month or so, thereby giving them a regular "boost" to keep playing until they reach Year 8 and join U15 sides. The publicity generated by the men's world cup, which starts on Friday, is also something that should not be missed.

So not only should you be making a note in your own diaries about next weekend, but it will be a great opportunity to bring a few friends along to sample the game.

Rules for players turning 18 during the season

A reminder that if a girl who is U18 at the 1st September turns 18 later in the season they can then play senior and/or junior rugby.

The 18 year old will have to register as a senior player if she wishes to play senior rugby, even if its for only one match. Players may only play senior or U18 county/regional rugby so must choose in which age band they wish to play. In National Sevens players will also have to choose one or the other.

More detailed rules and regulations can be found on the RFUW website. Apparently. Or contact the RFUW for details.

England U20 trials

The RFUW has moved its international age group from England U19 to England U20. This change to the age group banding falls in line with IRB policy and is consistent to changes already implemented within other nations. Essentially, the training and competition programme will remain the same.

The U20s (as with the U19’s) will give the next generation of talented players the opportunity to train and play within an international environment. The RFUW is committed to the identification and development of players of the future and it is anticipated that players from the U20’s age group will progress further and represent the England Senior Squad at future World Cups and 6 Nations competitions.

The first round of England U20 trials will take place on Saturday 8th September 2007.

The trial will be held at Lichfield RFC (Staffordshire) Lichfield RFC - (Directions from LRFC website)

The second round of trial matches will be played on 30th September and 21st October 2007

To be eligible for England U20’s players must be:

• Eligible to play for England
• Over 17 years old and under 20 years old on or before 31st August / 1st September 2007

To download a registration form click here. Players wishing to trial should complete a the form and return it to the RFUW office by Thursday 6th September at the very latest.

Whilst the trials remain ‘open’ we encourage players who have played Regional Rugby to register and attend.

Players should arrive for a 10:30am start. The trials will finish at around 4pm. All players should bring own lunch / refreshments, training and playing kit (including protective clothing)

Final Information regarding the trials will be posted on www.rfu.com (women’s rugby)
Please don’t hesitate to contact the office on 0208 831 7996 if you have any queries.