CALL OF SIRENS
finally attended her first training session.
Claire said: “I was speaking to my partner, saying how much I wanted to lose weight, do some exercise and how I might join the rugby club. But the boys overheard it and they told everyone I was joining, so I had no choice then. But it’s been the best thing I ever did.
“I’m a lot fitter now and people say I look like I’ve lost weight. But I’m a tight-head prop, so I don’t want to be skinny. You never see an eight and a half stone prop, do you?”
In Cerys’ case, it was social media that helped bring the Sirens to her attention.
“One day I was watching rugby on the TV and then put on Facebook, “Any women’s rugby teams about?” said Cerys, who’s in her third year as a Siren.
“I’m so glad I did that, because the girls are amazing. They’re the most important thing for me. It sounds stupid, but we’re like a family. I could never think about leaving the Sirens now – I’m not saying that the other teams don’t have good people playing for them, but I like the girls in our team.”
Although women’s rugby participation levels in Wales are rising, it’s still not easy for everyone. Playing on Sundays and five-hour away trips make juggling family life more complicated, while sometimes teams can wait months between games, due to cancellations.
Prop Kayleigh Mason, who runs her own garden business, explained: “We’ve got loads of players, but different people have different commitments. Some players work shifts, so they’re unavailable on certain days, and people have got kids and they can’t get babysitters, so I think they’re the sort of reasons why lots of teams struggle for players on weekends.
“The league is spread out here, there and everywhere. We play against local clubs, right up to Abergele in North Wales and west towards Lampeter. But you get used to the travelling and when we’re out of season, you miss it. Sundays are really boring during the summer.”
Captain Keighlee added: “You have your ups and downs, sometimes we might not have enough to field a team on a Sunday but we just get on with it. We don’t get paid to play. We all come from different backgrounds.
“The youngest member of the team is 18 and the oldest is 40. I work as a sports coach, we’ve got a few in uni, one training to be a nurse, some working in school, a police officer, some are stay-at-home mums.
“But we all do it because we want to do it and it’s something we really enjoy.”
The first episode of Mike Phillips a’r Senghenydd Sirens is available to watch on demand on the S4C website and on BBC iPlayer, with English subtitles available. The next episode will be shown on S4C at 8.25pm on Wednesday.