Historically, independent schools don't play rugby but in the lead up to the first Women’s six nations game of 2022, 10 pioneering member schools of the Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS) joined us at Lord Wandsworth College for the inaugural girl's rugby festival.
The festival saw over 200 girls from the age of 9-to 13 play the RFU’s Touch Union rules on a sunny, windy day in the beautiful farm setting of Lord Wandsworth. The U11 festival consisted of 11 teams, with teams playing 6, 11-minute matches. And the U13s festival consisted of 5 teams, playing 4, 16-minute matches with a 2-minute break for halftime.
“Thanks for a brilliant day today- the girls had a great day!” (James Allen Prep School)
The sporty girls took to the game like ducks to water, granted there were some mistakes early on with the majority having played limited rugby, but over time the game started to flow with passes going to hand, mercurial running lines and footwork that the likes of Meg Jones and Emma Uren on the Sevens circuit would be proud of!
When speaking with Emily Connell, she said “I wanted to thank you and your team for a fab day yesterday, I believe it was a great success and something which will grow year on year. The referees were fantastic and really judged the skill level and age groups well.”
We are very much looking forward to working with IAPS and Lord Wandsworth again next academic year to run an even bigger tournament with the aim of helping more girls give rugby a try to grow the game.
Lions Sports Academy, Founder, Andy Jones said “we were delighted with how the first-ever IAPS girls rugby festival went! From start to finish it was brilliant to see so many girls with a rugby ball in hand and big smiles on their faces! We can’t wait to do it again next year!”
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