Girls’ 12s Fest is a knockout

This year’s NLD Youth Council festival for U12 girls attracted greater numbers of players and spectators than before and the standard of rugby hit new heights. The ever-increasing popularity of girls’ rugby was on display at Long Eaton RFC on Sunday 23^rd March when teams from NLD, Yorkshire and Leicestershire played in the third annual 12s’Fest.

It was a busy day at Long Eaton. When the boys finally moved on after their U16 and U18 cup matches, the girls took over for an afternoon of rugby celebration.

In a waterfall festival, all the teams played the same number of matches. There were two groups of 4 teams: the festival ending with teams playing their equivalent-placed team from the opposite group.

Some great running skills and determination were on display and there were some early signs of very talented individuals being developed.

As ever, the volunteers from the NLD Youth Council ensured that the core principle of enjoyment was never far away from everyone’s minds. Alongside the rugby, they ran a raffle featuring prizes kindly donated by attending clubs and hosted inflatable activities which proved very popular. In doing so, with the kind help of all of those attending, they raised valuable funds to offset the expense of running the event and also donated 10% of their proceeds to the Nottinghamshire Down’s Syndrome Support Group . Players at the festival also marked Down Syndrome Day by wearing odd socks.

Once again, we were very grateful to our referees who attended on the day. In the midst of a keenly contested match, it is important for us all to remember the vital role that referees play, and it is always good to see the majority of those playing and watching respecting them and thanking them.

The day ended with presentations that reflected the ethos of the Youth Council’s festival. A trophy for great teamwork was awarded to Dinnington, who allowed several girls to join their team. An award for ‘Most supportive team’ was given to Dronfield, who stayed behind after their last match to add numbers to the Newark/ Kesteven Barbarians in their final match. Newark and Kesteven Barbarians won the award for the ‘Best demonstration of TREDS values’. The coveted ‘Best try celebration’ award was won by Newark/Kesteven Barbarians.

We were very grateful to Long Eaton RFC for hosting the event and also to the NLD Youth Council volunteers who gave up their time to organise and run this event, to promote U12 girls’ rugby.

The NLD Youth Council represent young people at the NLD Management Committee and at key strategy meetings. They also run forums to listen to and develop ideas from young people. Later this year they will be hosting events such as ColtsFest 25 (Saturday 30^th August) for U17 and U18 boys as well as  a rugby festival and development day for U16 and U18 girls at Nottingham University on Sunday 7^th September. The Youth Council volunteers meet monthly and gain lots of valuable leadership experience as well as enjoying the company of like-minded people. Those interested in joining can see further information on the NLD website and by emailing the Youth Council at [email protected] .

12s’Fest for U12 girls will take place earlier next season, on Sunday 16^th November. Hopefully with a successful Women’s World Cup and lots of work by clubs to promote rugby in their local schools, we will see even more girls attending.