A FESTIVAL to encourage girls to take part in rugby took place at Gwernyfed RFC last Friday.
As a result of the WRU moving to increase rugby participation by Girls, a new summer offering for girls regional rugby has been developed and Nick Davies, the Rugby Hub Officer for Brecon, went about organising the festival.
Nick is jointly employed by Powys County Council and the WRU, and his job is to increase levels of participation and performance in young rugby players in the Brecon area.
Since he took up the post in November last year, he has encouraged more pupils to take part in the sport as well as running weekly coaching sessions, both in the high school and the local primary schools.
With the help of Jon Bowen and Owen Phillips the Rugby Hub Officers in Builth Wells and Crickhowell respectively and assisted by Jemma and Nicola the Powys Council 5 x 60 officers, Nick set about organising the festival.
Pupils from Sennybridge, Llanfaes, Cradoc, Mount Street, Priory, Ysgol y Bannau and Llangynidr primary schools attended with secondary school pupils from Brecon High, Builth Wells, Gwernyfed, Crickhowell and Lady Hawkins from Kington joining them.
The age grouping for the day were under 9s, 11s, 13s and 15s and many schools brought numerous sides for each age group. The primary school children played six a side tag rugby and the secondary schools played 10 aside.
Nick said: "Almost 400 children and young adults players attended and a high point for me was when I had an opportunity to step back and see the six pitches alive with rugby and a buzz of enthusiasm and excitement from all players present.
"Mention must be given to all the school staff from all primaries and secondary schools who made the day happen by refereeing, organising matches or ensuring players were in the right place at the right time.
The emphasis with rugby festivals is about participation and enjoyment although all players had a keen competitive edge and in several of the under13 and 15 games some of the tag pulling closely resembled full blooded tackling. Fortunately there were no injuries and all present played the games in the true spirit of the game, even with some mud stripes on players faces."
Nick added: "We witnessed many high quality matches in all age grades and lots of great team and individual tries. Crickhowell u13 and 15s remained unbeaten but certainly didn’t have it all their own way and I’m sure teams will relish the idea of a ’re match."
As well as the festival, a girls only rugby team, the South Powys Red Kites has been set up which will also be based at Gwernyfed RFC.
Nick said: "Combining this new setup with the fact that I spent the last term teaching girls rugby at the high school, along with all primary schools getting involved, it is hoped the team will attract lots of interest."