It was an inspirational night for thousands of rugby fans on Friday night as the Scarlets celebrated a memorable win against a world-class opponent Vodacom Bulls – and none more so than for the group of girls’ rugby hub players that joined Scarlets for the game.
To kick off the Welsh Rugby Union’s ‘Girls in Rugby’ festival which runs all of this week, a group of more than 50 up-and-coming young players from the Scarlets region’s hubs were treated to an outstanding show on the pitch from the team as well as meeting role models in the Supporters Village pre-match.
Players from Tywi Tornadoes, Teifi Timberwolves, Wiberod, Stradey Sosbans and Valley Vixens joined in the pre-match showcase in the FSG Indoor Arena as well as being part of the half-time tag festival on the pitch.
Scarlets Board member and former Wales international Tonia Antoniazzi met with leaders of the Girls hubs together with the WRU Hub Programme leader Ben Rose, Aled Parry, WRU Scarlets Lead Officer and WRU Girls and Women’s Community Lead and Carmarthen-born former 65-cap Wales international Caryl Thomas to discuss future initiatives to help support and develop the girls and women’s rugby in Wales.
Paul Fisher, Head of Scarlets Community Foundation, who organised the initiative at Parc y Scarlets, said: “It was brilliant to see so many of the girls hubs players join us on Friday night from across our region. We are committed to help develop and support the next generation of women’s players from within our region and it is vital that girls who are engaging with the sport meet role models and see a clear pathway and feel supported and inspired to keep playing the game for both enjoyment and success.
“Scarlets will host more focused events in the future to shine a spotlight on the girls and women’s game and to celebrate the great work that is going on behind the scenes to encourage and inspire more girls to take up the sport.”
The WRU is hosting ‘Girls in Rugby Week’ with a series of events across the country this week to celebrate the huge area of work that is under way to support the next generation of girls and women’s players involved in rugby.
Scarlets are building for the future which includes a fresh focus on the girls’ and women’s game, with notable success last season including four players in the U18s Women’s Six Nations squad, a number of girls from the region selected for the West Wales Professional Development Centre (PDC) plus 70 girls are registered with the Scarlets’ first U17s Development Squad.
Scarlets’ Academy coaches have supported training and development of Celtic Challenge Cup side Brython Thunder. Two of the region’s age-grade teams Teifi Timberwolves and Taf Valley Tigers were U16s and U18s WRU National plate winners last season. Increased demand from girls to play rugby is now being supported with 32 WRU clusters supporting players from U7s to U18s across communities in Wales.
