Girls Rugby and Football is going from strength to strength in the Junior School.
Since Mrs Walker’s redesign of the Games curriculum all girls in the Junior School now get to experience as much football, rugby and cricket during their lessons as the boys. We have had a successful U11 Girls Football team for a couple of years but we now have a large number of girls participating in rugby and football during our co-curricular activities, both in mixed and girls only clubs, from Years 3 – 6.
Coach Mr Cartwright said: “It has been brilliant to see so many girls make such quick progress as a result of their enthusiasm and determination. They are desperate to participate in some ‘all girls’ fixtures so if any other schools or local clubs are interested in arranging fixtures please get in touch.”
Although football has always had a good level of interest from the young ladies in Year 5 and Year 6, rugby has only become popular more recently. This term we have seen Year 5 girls making such great progress in three weeks they have been able to take part in boys’ fixtures, against all male opposition, in The Grange School and Altrincham Prep.
The girls in question played active roles in fiercely competitive games, making some seismic tackles and scoring some awesome tries.
Connie, another member of the mixed rugby team, said: “We have only had rugby 4 lessons and we are already on the mixed team. I have learnt that girls can do anything.”
Niamh, one of the five girls in the mixed rugby team, said: “I love rugby because I love tackling, scoring tries, and feeling that pride at the end of the game.”
Coach Mr Heagerty said: “The opportunity to develop girls’ rugby at CHS is something we have been building for the past two years. It is our hope that we can create an environment that allows them to both access the game, and be inspired to play both now and to hopefully go on to be the Red Roses of the future.”
There is a buzz of excitement in anticipation of the Girls Rugby Club that Mr Cartwright and Mr Heagerty will be running in the summer term, both from the girls and the staff.
