An all-girls team consisting of Lyra Neville, Chelsea Dalton, Eveline Box, Ellie Donovan and Olivia McKenna travelled to Reeds Weybridge RFC on Sunday 16th of May.

What started out as an idea to get our Under 10s girls playing with a couple of other all-girls teams, turned out to be a mini festival ran fantastically by Reeds RFC, with what felt like over 70 girls all playing some exceptionally good rugby and luckily some great weather.

A big thank you needs to go out to the organisers of this event and hopefully one that will now continue.

What was noticed and commented on by all was the fun the girls were having and how they all showed excellent skills in attack and defence. Teams from London Welsh, Battersea Ironside, Old Ruts, London Irish Amateur and Reeds were all mixing and playing great rugby.

The London Irish Amateur mini girls did themselves and the club proud in the way they conducted themselves on and off the pitch. And to cap it off, we were joined by Sophie (captain of the London Irish Amateur senior ladies team) who hopefully is already recognising some stars of the future.

LIARFC Ladies Captain Sophie Messem noted “It was fantastic to see the girls play at Reeds Weybridge. I was very impressed with the standard; the way the girls moved with the ball, identifying space and passing to their teammates. I'm very excited to see them develop as young players and hopefully join our Youth Girls section in a few years time.”

When asked for her summery of the day, U10 Ellie Donovan noted ‘‘It was a really fun day. I couldn’t believe how many girls play rugby! Everyone was really friendly and all the teams played fairly and gave it their best. I can’t wait to do another girls-only tournament again!’

Ellie's mum Teri said '‘What a fantastic experience for our U10 girls. Ellie had the best time, was really inspired by just how many turned up on the day and the quality of rugby in all their games. Our squad played brilliantly, worked together to use all the space and took every opportunity to shine. An immensely proud day for the girls, parents and London Irish Amateur. Thanks so much to all those who organised - Ellie and I are so grateful they had this opportunity. Go girls!’

LIARFC are very proud of all our mini girls’ achievements to date. With women’s rugby is one of the world’s fastest-growing team sports, we are lucky to have a good number of committed young women within our ranks.

LIARFC would like to thank Ellie's mum and dad (Teri and Gary) for the article content and post tournament photograph.

Mini rugby is played on Sunday mornings at 10am at Hazelwood the home of London Irish. If you are inspired by our girl's story and want to get involved you can find all the information you need in the Mini section, Membership and Contact details of the website.