Truro Recruiting Girls
Truro is Cornwall's county town and the southernmost city in mainland Britain.
It is also home to Truro RFC where there are two men’s teams, minis and juniors from Under 7s to Under 18s and mixed touch. Now it’s clear that Cornwall’s girls want to get involved too.
With the club keen to give opportunities for girls to play rugby, they started to recruit volunteers to run a girls section at the end of last season. RFU Community Rugby Coach Neil Smith then helped them to run an open day for girls to give rugby a try and 16 girls turned up to this first event.
Three months later, Neil and Cornwall Rugby Development Officer Jonny Stephenson decided that the best way to get girls interested in joining the club was to deliver coaching in local schools before an event hosted by the club. This was borne out when more than 80 girls turned up to enjoy rugby, followed by sausage and chips and an invitation to come back soon.
A week later more than 40 girls were at Eveter’s Sandy Park to take part in a girls rugby day before England Women played France Women and to cap off an amazing few weeks they were asked to be the guard of honour as the teams ran out.Said Neil Smith: “There was an amazing buzz from the girls who were there and since then we’ve had lots of positive feedback. They are loving not just the rugby but the new friends they have made and the new social group they have created. A massive part of this success is the hard work of Truro RFC’s Nik Tinney and Neil McKay in supporting the new section and all the volunteers at the club.”
Neil McKay added: “We are having an amazing time seeing the girls’ enthusiasm and the skills develop so quickly. Currently, we have 22 players at Friday evening training sessions and on Sunday mornings. We have new players coming along most weeks as the word spreads via friends or school. They played their first game recently at Perranporth with the St Austell Angels. They learned a huge amount in one morning and came off smiling.
“We are starting formal fixtures now, entering the Cornwall X Cup to play the other local girls’ teams. We’re lucky to have experienced coaches involved. They have been coaching for a number of years but all describe their last few months with this team as being their most enjoyable and enthusiastic times.”
