Regional awards

After the development day the annual regional awards were given out - the main ceremony had taken place some weeks previously in South Wales but due to exam pressures most of the Gogledd girls had been unable to attend so Nicola Smith, Women's Community Rugby Manager travelled down to Denbigh to present the awards.
Trophies were awarded to Colwyn Bay U18 & U15 Mermaids for being 'Club of the Year' and Ellen Jones was presented with her trophy as Gogledd Cymru U18 Player of the Year and Eurgain Llwyd received her trophy as U15 Player of the Year. The regional players who were present were then presented with a medal to commemorate their involvement with the regional side.
A surprise (at least to the recipient!) award was then announced - Ann Tilakawardane, Gogledd Cymru U18 girls manager, was presented with an award for 'Contribution to Women's Rugby 2008 - 2009'.

Some members of Gogledd Cymru U18s 2008-09 with their medals.

Some members of Gogledd Cymru U15s 2008-09 with their medals

Denbigh 16 August 2009

The last of the summer development days took place at Denbigh Rugby Club on an almost sunny day. There was a mixed age range of girls - both U15 and U18 plus a couple of older players who came along for the awards ceremony and joined in the training, among them Wales U20 player Yasmin Leung, who was happy to share her expertise with the younger girls. The girls were coached in skills for the first half of the session but asked to play a game so a modified game was played, in view of the fact that the ages were mixed (though some of the younger players were more than able to challenge the older girls!)

The Gogledd Cymru coaches were able to add a few more players to the list of potential regional players after seeing the skills on offer.

Bro Ffestiniog RFC

The second development day was held on Sunday 2 August in Bro Ffestionog RFC.

A large contingent of local girls were waiting - what some of them lacked in experience they made up for in enthusiasm! Several players from other clubs also made the journey to Bro.

With 4 experienced coaches available the girls were split into groups and while some were coached in game play, some concentrated on tackling and defence, with the groups rotating through the coaching stations so that all tried all areas.

Such enthusiasm was shown that most of the girls are planning to come to the regional training sessions held on Wednesdays at Llandudno RFC - these sessions are open to all who want to improve their rugby skills.