So I couldn't let TE's first rugby tournament go unmentioned. Last weekend we went to Reigate for a mini-tournament, involving five girls' sides; two from Essex, Old Reigatians and Pulborough (I think). The two Essex sides were Eton Manor and Barking. It was a freezing day, the wind was bitter, and it wasn't pleasant. We got there and TE went off into the changing room with the other girls from Worthing.
She's not been playing long with Worthing RFC and others in the team joined after her. She used to play at Worthing Leisure Centre but gave it up. Then she asked if she could go back, and her coach suggested she might benefit from going to the town club. So that is how we ended up where we are, which reminds me, I need to pay her club fees...
So that recap was by way of explaining that expectations weren't high. Worthing are a new team, in the sense that there were a lot of new team members, and they were up against some pretty organised competition. Old Reigatians for instance seemed to have a very desirable set-up, a seemingly new clubhouse and very well-kept pitches. And their team was good, I think in the final reckoning they were the team who won most games. And that makes sense, right? I mean, why invite other teams to play at your club unless you are confident in your abilities to contest the game? And the clubhouse was really nice; it was the sort of place that people want to be a part of. If I lived in Reigate, I would probably enrol my daughters in the club just for the social aspect - apart from the bar prices. They may have been club prices, but they were more Fabric prices than Tarring Working Men's Club prices. That came as a bit of a shock! But we lived through it...
Worthing Girls, on the other hand, managed to lose their four matches. But the team, despite taking some injuries, weren't despondent. The coaches encouraged them, and pointed out what they were doing well, and congratulated them when they put into practice what they had learned in the training sessions.
So even though the weather being cold and damp, and the scorelines not being encouraging, the girls weren't disheartened. We asked TE if she had enjoyed it, and she said yes. She certainly didn't appear to have struggled at all. She scored a try, which always puts a better spin on the day, and she was one of three girls who got a "Man of the Match" (I suppose it should be "Girl of the Match") award, for improving over the course of the day and being instrumental in some of the closing plays of the final game.
Most of the team are moving up to the 13-year old side (TE currrently plays with the U13s). So she will be one of the longest-serving players, which means, possibly, that the other girls in the team will look to her for support and guidance during games. I hope that Worthing can keep up the momentum and generate more interest in girls' rugby. The current coaches are moving up with the girls, so I hope that they can get some replacements who do as good a job and be as positive as the current guys are.
I'm certainly glad that TE is enjoying her rugby, and I hope that future tournaments are played on better days (weather-wise) and the results are kinder, but if she enjoyed playing on a bitterly cold day even when they lost all games, I think maybe she might have found her passion?
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