Girls rugby represented on county Elite Athlete Support Programme

Ten athletes - including rugby's representative Megan Williams from Welwyn - 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 but will be free of charge for the athletes.

The programme is a joint venture between the Herts Sports Partnership, University of Hertfordshire and Lee Valley Regional Park Authority.

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 £15m state of the art Hertfordshire Sports Village.

The programme was officially launched by Lisa Wooding (Hockey Bronze medallist in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, 2006) on the 20th November. Following the launch, the athletes were given advice by Dawn Airton (Athlete Support Manager for the English Institute of Sport and ex-England Rugby player) and Lisa on managing their time to juggle their busy training schedules, education commitments and a social life with a “Performance Lifestyle” workshop.

The English Institute of Sport fully endorse the programme and have been very supportive of the scheme. Dawn Airton says: “Its great to see a programme that will support athletes on their pathway to World Class success. This programme fully embraces the principles of the EIS by providing talented athletes in Hertfordshire with sports science services that aims to make a difference to their performance.”

Fiona Castree from the Herts Sports Partnership says: “this is a fantastic opportunity for these athletes to receive top class support services to help them reach their full potential in their chosen sport.”

“We are very fortunate to have been able to form a partnership with the University of Hertfordshire and Lee Valley Regional Park Authority to set up this new programme.”

Nick Brooking, Director of Sport at the University of Hertfordshire says: “We are delighted to be able to contribute expertise to this programme which provides a valuable first step for these genuinely talented young people towards the national level programmes and schemes that are also run here.”

Simon Gardner, Senior Development Manager, Lee Valley Regional Park Authority says: “The Authority is very pleased to be able to support these talented athletes in their training. I look forward to following their progress representing their country at future international sporting events such as the London 2012 Olympics.”