Girls stepping up for chance to play rugby
RUGBY UNION THE women’s rugby union revolution has stepped up in the Far North, as two junior representative teams prepare to face the best teams in Queensland.
The FNQ Tempest teams travelled to the Gold Coast yesterday for the under-15 and under-17 state rugby sevens championships at Bond University.
While they may not storm to a championship – though they’ll leave everything on the field – the playing group shows how junior female participation has grown in just two years.
When women’s rugby union exploded in popularity after Australia’s Olympic Games women’s sevens gold medal in 2016, coaches Russell Todd and Chloe Dray recognised the glaring gap in the FNQ market.
“Going back to 2017, we recognised it was growing everywhere but we didn’t have much here,” Todd said.
They took one team to the state titles last year, and remarkably, had two players selected for Queensland.
This year, they’ve taken two teams to the Gold Coast.
“We started the rep team last year and played at four tournaments, and this year we’ve had just as many girls trial,” Todd said.
“It’s hard to say what the change in numbers is like as we don’t start the junior season until Term 4, but we’ve had plenty of new faces at those trials.”
The goal for these teams is to give them the opportunity to play and allow them the chance to replicate the state success of Indiana Tillett and Becka Marsters, who were invited to be part of the Queensland Youth Girls 7s squads last year.