Castle Donington RUFC half-term camps sees girl participation rise!

Castle Donington RUFC has been working hard for 13 months to grow a girls section. The volunteers have pumped in a huge amount of effort during the 1st season, now the club is able to look at other areas to support the girls development on an individual level!

After looking around to find something for their girls to do as an addition to training etc, especially during the half terms...there seemed very little. As the saying goes by the Mini and Junior Chair, "there's no point in moaning about the lack of something, lets be proactive and change it". The club decided to run 2 half term camps over October and they were taken back by the amount of interest of local girls looking to participate.

The club introduced guest coaches to the girls, such as Calvin Beech and England's Tamara Taylor. "We felt that we needed a female to show the girls that rugby is not just a male sport and Tamara really inspired our girls." Said Mini and Junior Chair Nick Woodland.

The girls took part in blindfolded sandwich making ice-breakers and lego vehicle building, which were used to race around the skating ramps as team building challenges. Tamara and Calvin offered coaching sessions to help the girls get coaching right from the top. "It was important for the girls to do things that were fun but also allowed us as a club to promote things such as rugby's core values. The girls looked at great examples of our core values and they even went through the RFU's new Great Sports Parenting book to tell us what they found interesting or could relate to."

The club is keen to make sure that it builds on the ever growing Mini and Juniors section with an ear close to the ground. This ultimately allows parents, players and other members to be heard. "It is important that we listen to the members and also work with them to make sure we get things right on and off of the field. These events are no different as the girls have a say in what they enjoy and the things they would like to participate in for the February half term camp."

The club would like to thank Amber Valley and Matlock rugby clubs for promoting the event to their girls and to Calvin Beech and Tamara Taylor for helping to create memories for the players.

Here's what some people involved in the camp had to say:

"Thank you for the organising a great two days, the girls have really enjoyed and and have come back full of praise for the two days. We look forward to seeing you all again soon."

Lisa, Amber Valley

Thank you so much for making my daughter feel welcome today, she was nervous with not being a diamond player. She has come back telling me about her session with 'an England superstar' - direct quote - so thank you very much. She can not wait to go back to our club Sunday to show off her new skills, lol".

Parent