U12s: First game, and the next

Well done everyone who came to the game against Kent on Sunday. It was a steep learning curve for everyone against a much more experienced team used to playing with each other, but after the shock of the first 10 minute period you all setteled down brilliantly only losing the second and third periods 2-0 and 2-1 respectively. They had some fast wings, but our forwards were awesome - winning almost every scrum!

We have a return game now set for 30th November, kick-off at 2pm at Dulwich College in South London. This is one of the country's leading private schools - and we will be playing on one of their main rugby pitches, so the facilities should be superb. The match will be part of a big Christmas fair being held at the college, with ice skating and all kinds of other activities going on - so it will be a day out for everyone.

Full details, directions, etc. will be circulated... once we receive them. In the meanwhile (if you have not done so already) please let John Birch know if you are available.

This will probably be the last fixture before Christmas as we have been unable to confirm an opponent or venue for 14th December. We may have a training session on that afternoon however - again more details when they are confirmed. After Christmas the aim is to have training session or matches on some of RFUW's regional weekends (see above). However, as these are compressed into a much shorter period this season we will probably not have sessions on every weekend this season.

England Women's Under 20 Squad 2008-09

The 2008/2009 squad for the England Women’s Under 20s campaign has been announced.

England Under 20s Head Coach Giselle Mather has selected a squad of 34 players who will compete in an international fixture against Wales in April and then the Under 20s Nations Cup in July.

Congratulations to the following Players that play for Clubs in Herts (* New to Squad):

• Sarah Mckenna Old Albanian Saints - Inside Centre
• Natalie McClarnon* Saracens - Hooker
• Megan Williams* Welwyn Warriors U18 - Full Back
• Sasha Acheson* Sudbury/Letchworth/Suffolk Sabres U18 - Prop

Herts Girls 7's 17th May 2009

Old Albanians will host this seasons Herts Girls 7's on Sun 17th May 2009. The contact details of the organiser are Emma Nichol e-mail enichol@buckssport.org Mob: 07535 694480.

The Herts Girls 7's is an Open Tournament, and has Under 15 and Under 18 Sections, but the organisers are looking at introducing an Under 12 Section in 2009.

Invitations will be sent out to all previous participants in the New Year, but if you have not taken part before and would like to do so please contact Emma direct.

Sunday 9th November Herts Girls County Training Welwyn RFC

This is confimation that on Sun 9th Nov the final full Herts Girls County Training Afternoon of this Season will take place at Welwyn RFC. Registration and access to the changing rooms is from 1.00 and Training will start from 2.00 onwards.

As well as the U15 and U18 Training, Team Herts U12 Girls will be playing a game against U12’s from another County. Any new Players of any age group that didn't attend on 19th Oct will need to bring a Herts Registration Form, signed by their Parent / Guardian, copies of which have already been e-mailed to all Girls Club Managers and Coaches in the County.

If you are unable to attend on 9th Nov, but still wish to be considered for the Girls County Teams Fixtures this season (28th Nov and 14th Dec) you must confirm this with Peter Mccullough (U15 County Manager) peter.mccullough@ntlworld.com or Dave Marques (U18 County Manager) Dave@belpar.co.uk

Herts man named RFUW Volunteer of the Year

Hertfordshire and Welwyn Girls RFC’s Peter McCullough has been named the Rugby Football Union for Women’s Volunteer of the Year.

McCullough is the first winner of the new ‘Sue Garnett Volunteer of the Year Award’ which recognises the contribution made to improving standards and levels of participation in women and girls rugby.

McCullough has several and many varied role within girls and women’s rugby, including Welwyn Under 15s Coach and Manager, Hertfordshire Under 15s Manager and Chair of the Hertfordshire Women and Girls’ Development Group. Although he is linked with Welwyn he also works with other clubs to ensure everything in Hertfordshire is well coordinated, including publicity, fixtures, training sessions and administration.

McCullough was presented with his award by RFU President Brian Williams at the RFU’s Constituency Bodies’ Leaders Conference dinner this month. The contribution and hard work of two further volunteers, Paula Brotherhood of Leicestershire and Steve Lumb of Barnsley, was also recognised when they were named as runners-up.

The Sue Garnett Volunteer of the Year Award has been created to remember and acknowledge the work of Sue Garnett, who passed away in October 2007. She committed 20 years of her life as a rugby volunteer in Lancashire, particularly at her club Vale of Lune.

Sue carried out many different roles during her involvement in rugby, including chairing and attending various committees, team management and working on regional and national development. One thing that remained consistent throughout her rugby career was the real difference she made to sport in her club and county through her hard work and commitment.

Sue’s family have kindly agreed to allow the RFUW to name this award after her to honour those who show the same winning qualities.

In the first year of the ‘Sue Garnett Volunteer of the Year Award’ 11 individuals were nominated. They also included: Mike Lord (Cheshire), Vicky Muir (Cheshire), Jedda Taylor (Kent), Sharon Evans (Hampshire), Annie Parker (Thornbury RFC), Steph Wilson (Lancashire), Mick Kemp (Notts, Lincs and Derby), Ken James (Notts, Lincs and Derby).

Rosie Williams, RFUW Managing Director, said: “We are delighted that we have been able to acknowledge the contribution of our volunteers and show how much we appreciate their hard work and dedication with this award. I hope that this is the first award of many and we can continue to celebrate the success of our volunteers for many years to come”.

The RFUW would like to thank all those who were nominated for their continuing input to the women and girls game in England.

U12 fixtures

Fixtures for U12s are being arranged for the next three county dates. Please let John Birch, the U12 manager, know whether or not you are available.

November 9th: v Kent (and possibly others) at Welwyn, kick-off 2pm

November 30th: Either county fixture with U15s and U18s or v Kent (Dulwich College or Old Alleynians)

December 14th: Away fixture - possibly v Kent & Middlesex (Ealing)

Georgie Robinson Memorial Game Sat 18th Oct at OA's

OA Saints host the second annual Georgie Robinson Memorial Game when they face the British Army at Woolhams on Sat 18th Oct. The match is held in memory of OA Saint Georgie who was killed in a car accident in South Africa in 2006. OA Rugby will also be hosting a number of events on the day to raise money for The Rainbow Trust Children's Charity who provide practical and emotional support to families of terminally ill children. For more information contact Jemma Knighton on 07957 387363 or go to www.justgiving.com/georgierobinson to make a donation.

Before the main game OA Girls U15 are playing Welwyn Warriors U15.

Sunday 19th October Herts Girls County Training Welwyn RFC

Confimation that on Sun 19th October Herts Girls County Training will take place at Welwyn RFC.

Registration and access to the changing rooms is from 1.00 and Training will start from 2.00 onwards. As well as the U15 and U18 Training, U12 Girls from around the County are also invited to attend for a Training Session. Any new Players of any age group that didn't attend on 14th Sept will need to bring a Herts Registration Form, signed by their Parent / Guardian, copies of which have already been e-mailed to all Girls Club Managers and Coaches in the County.

If you are unable to attend on 19th Oct, but still wish to be considered for the Girls County Teams this season, you must confirm this with Peter Mccullough (U15 County Manager) peter.mccullough@ntlworld.com or Dave Marques (U18 County Manager) Dave@belpar.co.uk

Awards for Herts Girls Rugby

The annual Herts Sports Partnership's Service to Sport awards were presented at the University of Hertfordshire on Wednesday Night and included the following Award Winners for Herts Girls Rugby Clubs:

• Young Community Volunteer : 2nd place - Katie Alcock (Letchworth Girls)
• ClubTeam of the Year : Commendation - Welwyn Warriors
• Volunteer of the Year (under 21) : Commendation - Natalie Threlfall (Letchworth Girls)
• ClubVolunteer of the Year (over 21) : 2nd Place - Peter McCullough (Old Albanians Minis and Welwyn Warriors)
• Club Service to Sport : Commendation - Dave Sharp (Letchworth Girls)

Peter Mccullough was announced as the Winner of the inaugural Sue Garnett RFUW Volunteer of the Year for 2008 at the RFU CB Leaders Conference Dinner on Friday Evening. Sue Garnett passed away in October 2007 after 20 years as a Rugby Volunteer in Lancashire, particularly at her club Vale of Lune. Sue carried out many different roles during her involvement in Rugby, from Chairing various Committees, Team Management and working on Regional and National Development.

Rochford Festival 2nd November - cancelled

This seasons Rochford Festival (U15 7's and U18 10's) has been cancelled due to a fixture clash.

Herts County Womens Rugby Team

Sunday 28th September saw the first ever Women’s County Team for Hertfordshire competing in the First Round of the Southern Women's County Championship.
First up against the team made up of OA Saints, Saracens and Tabard players was Sussex. Herts emerged the stronger side early on and Caroline Hallet scored a Try in the first 5 minutes which was quickly followed by a second. The second half started with a more determined Sussex piling on the pressure to Herts with a strong run only ruined by a scramble defence from Ali O’Donovan and Helena on the wing. The Sussex defence came in to their own as the Herts attack continued and after winning a strong scrum at the Sussex 5m line, Herts were denied a third Try as Nadia Dickenson’s score was ruled to have been held up. After a final attack Herts were rewarded with the Try they deserved. Final Score Herts 15 – Sussex 0

Second up was Herts verses Middlesex.
Middlesex continued their winning ways early on as a scrappy start from Herts resulted in a quick Try under the posts for Middlesex. Herts continued to struggle to get their hands on the ball as Middlesex continued to prove the stronger side. Herts fought a hard battle and sheer determination prevented two further Tries by Middlesex. The second half saw more of the same, with Middlesex taking advantage of a 3 man overlap to score again. The scrums were well fought with Herts holding their own. The match finished 32 – 0 to Middlesex and left Herts with lots of work to do before the next fixture at Tabard against Essex on Sun 19th October Kick off 3pm.

Sammy Field sammyfield@aol.com

Sussex Girls Rugby Festival Results

U18 Section -

U18 Group Stage:
Herts 10 Essex 0
Herts 24 Middx 0
Herts 0 Hampshire 0

U18 Semi Final:
Herts 15 Sussex 7

U18 Final:
Herts 0 Hampshire 5

U15 Section -

U15 Group Stage:
Herts 22 (Lotte Clapp Tx2, Rachel Mccullough Tx1, Shira Kilgallon TX1 CX1) Eastern Counties 0
Herts 33 (Lotte Clapp Tx2, Tilly Gooch Tx1, Courtney Arberry Tx1, Rachel Mccullough T x1, Shira Kilgallon CX4) Oxon 0
Herts 40 (Bryony Pomfret TX2, Scarlett Cooper-Wall Tx1, Courtney Arberry Tx1, Tilly Gooch Tx1, Becky Dawson TX1, Shira Kilgallon CX5) Middx B 0
Herts 5 (Lotte Clapp Tx1) Sussex 0

U15 Semi Final:
Herts 5 (Shira Kilgallon Tx1) Hampshire 0

U15 Final:
Herts 5 (Courtney Arberry Tx1) Sussex 0

Local Women's Rugby Development Manager post advertised

Our WRDM, Amanda Bate, is leaving the RFUW at the end of the month and her post has now been advertisted by RFUW. This is a vital post for the development of the game, not just in Hertfordshire, but across the East Region and London so please bring it to the attention of anyone you think might be interested:

RFUW Women’s Rugby Development Manager

Salary: from £25 - 28k pa + car and benefits. Based: Twickenham, Middlesex

The Rugby Football Union for Women is seeking to appoint a Women’s Rugby Development Manager (WRDM) for the London North & South regions.  This officer will be expected to take advantage of all networks and partners in developing rugby for women and girls. You will be expected to work and make strong links with schools, clubs, local authorities, county sports partnerships, RFU constituent bodies and development officers as well as RFUW volunteers in the area. You will be expected to form a strong partnership with the RFU Regional Development Managers in planning and implementing strategies for rugby development.

You must have a sound knowledge and experience of sports development, with some experience of rugby being an advantage.  You must also possess good organisational, communication and inter-personal skills.

Further Information

Benefits include competitive salary, company car, pension scheme, death in service benefit.

Full job description and person specification is available via this link or from the RFU and RFUW website www.rfu.com. 

To apply please forward your detailed CV and a covering letter ensuring that you address key points in the job description and person specification to Gemma Ryan, RFUW, Rugby House, Rugby Road, Twickenham, TW1 1DS or by email to gemmaryan@rfu.com. 

The closing date for receipt of applications is 10th October 2008 and interviews will be held in Twickenham on 23rd October 2008.

Sussex Girls Rugby Festival 28th September 2008

Herts U15 are now taking just one Team to the Tournament taking place at Crawley RFC on Sun 28th Sept.

The squad is as follows:
1 – Abbie Maxwell
2 – Melissa Gargaro
3 – Charlie Faloona
4 – Scarlett Cooper-Wall
5 – Sydnie Grace
6 – Courtney Arberry
7 – Bryony Pomfret
8 – Shira Kilgallon
9 – Lotte Clapp
10 – Nathalie Gooch
11– Becky Dawson
12 – Sophie Mccormack
13 – Rachel Mccullough
14 - Amber King
15 – Sidnie Nurthen
16 - Oren Blindell
17 – Izzy Mclean
18 – Rachel Selwood
19 – Alice Llelliott
20 – Nancy Harrison

Sussex Festival and England Under 20 Trial

The Herts U18 Squad for the Sussex Festival on 28th Sept is as follows:

1. Emma Burgess
2. Hannah Marques
3. Milly Fuggles
4. Laura Watson
5. Kelsey South
6. Emily Vivian
7. Alice Nee
8. Frankie Dawson
9. Claire Shutler
10. Hannah Gallagher
11. Alice Finn
12. Sam Voyle
13. Nicola Alcock
14. Natalie Threlfall
15. Georgia Peedle
16. Eleanor Morris
17. Charlie Hughes
18. Jess Robinson
19. Emily Wallace Greaves
20. Megan Childs
21. Emma Wilson
22. Vicky Moxom

The Herts County Management Team would like to congratulate Alex Robertson, Geri Thomas, Megan Williams and Haley Guilder in being selected for the Final England U20 Trial also taking place on 28th September. Their absence has given the chance for others to step forward into the Squad for the first County Festival of the season.

As we are missing these England Trialists, we do not have sufficient numbers to be able to make two U18 County Squads (an 'A' and a 'Development' Team). If there are Players at your Clubs who did not come to the first training ession, please encourage them to come to the next one on 19th October. With another half dozen more players we would be in a position to enter 2 Squads in the remaining two Festivals and ensure that all U18’s in Herts get to play at County Level.

Sussex Festival Sun 28th Sept Crawley RFC

Herts are taking two U15 teams (A and Development) and one U18 team to the First Girls County Tournament of the Season, the Sussex Girls County Rugby Festival. The Counties involved are:

U15 - Sussex, Herts A, Herts Development, Hants, Essex, Kent, Eastern Counties, Oxon, Middx A, Middx B

U18 - Sussex, Herts, Hants, Essex, Kent, Eastern Counties, Oxon, Middx

IMPORTANT DETAILS:

WHERE: Crawley RFC, The Clubhouse, Willoughby Fields, Ifield, Crawley, West
Sussex RH11 7LX

WHEN: Sunday 28th September 2008, first matches kick off at 10:30am. ALL PLAYERS TO BE AT THE VENUE BY 9.45 AT THE LATEST FOR REGISTRATION.

PARKING: As with most Rugby Clubs this is limited.

Herts Girls 7's Sun 17th May 2009

Following the Herts Womens and Girls Forum Meeting that took place on Monday Evening, it has been confirmed that Old Albanians will host this seasons Herts Girls 7's on Sun 17th May 2009. Contact details of the the Organiser will be published in the next few weeks.

2009 will be the 5th year that the Herts Girls 7's, which is an open tournament, will take place. The venue changes each year in order to showcase Girls Rugby around the County, and OA's follow Chesthunt, Letchworth, Welwyn and Tabard in hosting it. Bishops Stortford have already agreed to host it in 2010.

Herts Girls County Trial Sun 14th Sept Welwyn RFC

Sun 14th Sept is the confirmed date of this seasons Herts Girls County Trial taking place at Welwyn RFC. Registration and access to the changing rooms is from 1.00 and it will start from 2.00 onwards. As well as the U15 and U18 Trial, U12 Girls from around the County are also invited to a Training Session.

The Herts Registration Form has already been e-mailed to all Girls Club Managers and Coaches in the County. Additional copies will be available on 14/9, but in order for a Girl to partake in the Trial they must be signed by their Parent / Guardian. On the day the U15 Forms are to be handed to Peter Mccullough (U15 County Manager) and the U18 Forms to Dave Marques (U18 County Manager).

Depending on the number of Players that come to the Trial from all the Girls Clubs in Herts we plan to run County ‘A’ and Development Teams at both U15 and U18 this Season. In addition we plan to continue 'Team Herts U12' fixtures this season against other County's 'Team U12's.

Regional youth fixtures 2008/9

YOUTH U15s & U18s training games
The Youth games are preparation games for the RFUW Youth Festival only.

Match 1 – 8/2/09	Match 2 – 22/02/09
EAST  v Thames Valley	West Midlands v East Midlands v South
North West v West Midlands	Yorkshire v EAST
South West South v South v South West North	South West South v South East
North East v Yorkshire	North East v North West
South East v East Midlands	Thames Valley v South West N

Youth Regional Tournament
U15s on Saturday March 14th & U18s on Sunday March 15th

Herts Elite Athlete Support Programme 2008-09

Georgia Peedle from Welwyn Warriors U18's has won one of the 25 places on the Herts Elite Athletes Support Programme. This is the 3rd year that the Herts Sports Partnership has run the Programme, which provides athletes slected from a wide range of sports with a package of sport science support services free of charge.

Full details of the programme are: strength and conditioning training sessions with a qualified Strength and Conditioning Coach: personalised strength and conditioning training programme; physiotherapy allowance; equipment for home training; media training workshop; performance lifestyle advice; how to stay drug free in sport workshop; free annual membership to the Hertfordshire Sports Village.

In the previous 2 years, Hannah Gallagher and Megan Williams, both Welwyn Warriors, have won places on the Programme, and both are now part of the RFUW Talent Development Group.