600 participants at inaugural Girls Series events

The Girls Series events, one of which will be held in each of Scottish Rugby’s five regions each month, are to offer opportunities for girls to take part in regular competitive rugby at each age group. Clubs can send groups of players along to the events, regardless of if they can field a whole team or not.

The first round of Girls Series events took place last month with fixtures held at Cupar, Clydebank, Inverclyde, Thurso and Meadowmill. Over 600 girls were in attendance at these events which ensured players had plenty of opportunities to catch, pass, tackle and score tries.

The second round of Girls Series will be held across the country on Sunday 6 October, the day after Scotland Women play their second match against South Africa and are directly aligned to Rugby Development’s new strategy to increase regular participation within the women’s game.

Scotland Women tour captain Helen Nelson said: “Having grown up in a rural area with not much rugby opportunity, I think this sounds like a great way to give girls experience and more exposure to playing at a higher level.

“The participation numbers at the first series event were fantastic and I think this will only get better as they year goes on. I really believe that the changes in Age Grade Law Variations and the format of these Girls Series events will definitely help to ensure that more girls stay in our game for longer and that the level of the game keeps increasing.

“I was inspired with the commitment from players from Islay who set off on the Saturday to make sure they were in good time for the event on the Sunday at Clydebank. Also, to players from Orkney who made the 5-hour round trip with ferry and minibus to get to Caithness RFC’S home ground at Thurso. this is a great commitment from the players and coaches and I am excited to see how teams like these develop over the coming years thanks to these new playing opportunities.”

The Girls Series events were developed following consultations with clubs and rugby communities in relation to game play, age banding, training and fixture opportunities in the girls’ game in Scotland.

A revised set of Girls Age Grade Law Variations (AGLV) are being trialled for season 2019/20 which will support the increase of age bandings from U15 and U18 to U12, U14, U16 and U18. The new AGLVs are being supported by a series of regional series events which will be led by Scottish Rugby’s five Regional Teams.

All events support the core principles of the law variations. They will ensure a player-centred game where skill development and player welfare is prioritised. They allow players to master the fundamentals of evasion, passing, offloading and tackling whilst developing players understanding of the Scottish Rugby Technical Blueprint and Principles of Play.