Chinnor Kites Flying High
Chinnor RFC Women's 1st XV secured promotion to National Challenge 1 for just their second competitive season.
There had been no women’s and hardly any girls’ rugby at Chinnor RFC in Thame for over a decade when the Kites set up in summer 2019, with a mere eight players.
Their first competitive match last June saw them beat an Oxford Barbarians team in front of 500 spectators on a Friday night under lights. They joined National Challenge 2 South West (North) and, after being unbeaten throughout, secured promotion to National Challenge 1 for just their second season. Their inaugural campaign also saw friendly victories over Henley and Old Northamptonians.
Chinnor Kites will be playing in the fourth tier of English rugby in only their second competitive season and that, according to coach Fran Ronan, who as a reservist used to play for the Army, is down to the passion of the team who “want to play together and will put their bodies on the line for each other.”
Big Chinnor welcome
Fran coaches the Kites with her partner Karl Crockford and says being at Chinnor is another big positive as “It’s a special place to be. They want to help us all they can and that makes the whole experience great. When we were looking for a club they were so welcoming. They share resources, are tremendously supportive and really proud of our achievement.”
The coaching also had a significant impact. Fran played flanker or centre before an injury and began playing aged 13 at Tynedale Panthers, completing a sports leadership course at school. While at Oxford Brookes University, inspired by her coach and mentor Gary Morris, she travelled around playing with the Army Rugby League and AGC Rugby Union teams and coached Oxford University women’s second team as well as assisting with their firsts. She was also coaching Oxfordshire U15 and U18 girls’ teams and won the RFU’s recognition award in 2019 for ‘outstanding contributions to coaching’.
Now working and living at St Edward’s School Oxford, Fran teaches sports science and PE and coaches everything from hockey and rugby to athletics.
Epic atmosphere for first match
She says of the Kites’ success: “That first match in front of 500 was a special event, there having been no women’s rugby played at the club for so long. The atmosphere was epic, the victory amazing, but we then had a lot to live up to.
“From eight players we expanded to 30. Our captain Emily Patridge began playing at Birmingham University and played a couple of games for Worcester on the wing. When she came back home to the Thame area, she started captaining a team of emergency doctors, teachers, lawyers, social workers, mums. One mum has daughters who play, and we are keen to expand the age range and attract more women to the sport.
“It’s great that women’s rugby is getting more exposure and we have Tabitha Buchner, one of our players, and Jack Johnson promoting us via social media. Girls’ rugby at Chinnor has exploded too, from a handful at U13 there are now 70 to 80.
“As for the Kites, you never know what league to enter when you are a new team and we tried to find some tough friendlies to test us and to learn what it’s like to lose. But we kept winning! It’s been a special season and exciting to win promotion which is down to the passion and team spirit of every member of the squad.”
The Kites train on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1900. All are welcome, you can contact them via email at women@chinnor-rfc.com or find them on their Instagram @chinnor_kites or club website: www.chinnor-rfc.com/
