Leinster Rugby v Cardiff Blues

Girls Youth Rugby
in the North-East
OVER THE LAST NUMBER OF YEARS, THE NUMBER
OF GIRLS PLAYING RUGBY HAS INCREASED
EXPONENTIALLY ACROSS LEINSTER AND NOWHERE
MORE SO THAN THE NORTH-EAST.
Navan, North Meath, Ardee,
Dundalk, Skerries, Ashbourne and
Balbriggan have been fielding
minis and youth teams over the
last number of seasons.
This season, Boyne have revived their
girls section and Leinster’s newest club,
Carlingford have just started recruiting
girls.
Navan RFC has a vibrant girls section,
starting at U-10s all the way up to U-18s.
This season, there are over 100 girls
making their presence felt on the pitches
of Balreask Old.
The girls compete at a good level and
are respected throughout Leinster as a
force to be reckoned with!
Each season Navan is well represented
on regional development teams. This
season there are three players, Aine
Nangle, Molly O’Brien and Jade
Gaffney, on the Leinster U-18 squad.
They are following in the footsteps of
Molly Fitzgerald and Leah Reilly who
have played underage for both Leinster
and Ireland.
Before them came Meaghan Kenny and
Maedbh Smyth, both playing for Leinster
U-18s. Navan has a long tradition of
developing top class female athletes.
North Meath RFC put the success of their
women’s section down to the hard work
of one person, Ben Traynor.
When Ben arrived as CCRO in the club
they had no girls section, it was through
his perseverance and dedication that they
have developed a thriving and vibrant
female presence in North Meath.
In the last few seasons, this success has
been most evident in the number of
players that have represented the club as
part of the North East U-18 Girls squad,
Leinster and, most recently, for Ireland.
This year they also introduced the first
training session exclusively for girls
(aged from six up to 14) from 12-1pm
on Sundays which has proven a great
success and hopefully will boost female
participation in the sport as well as the
club.
The ethos for girls rugby at Dundalk RFC
has been ‘Why Fit In When You Were
Born To Stand Out?’.
It is something that continues to be
promoted by the Dundalk RFC girls
coaching teams who encourage the
Dundalk girls to be the best they can be.
They have been superb role models
and ambassadors for the girls game as
a result of the belief instilled in them at
grass roots level.
Dundalk is another club with over 100
girls playing rugby thanks to the hard
work of Suzanne Flynn, Linda Valentine,
Dermot Lennon and countless others.
In 2019, Dundalk RFC U-18 Player
Ellie Meade was given the honour of
leading out the Leinster U-18 Girls at
interprovincial level.
She was joined by her Dundalk
teammates Caoimhe O’Callaghan
and Nina Hjalmers. Another Dundalk
teammate Sophie Kinghan lined out on
the Ulster wing.
O’Callaghan and Hjalmers were selected
for the Ireland U-18 Sevens Squad. Last
season they were also joined by another
Maria Smith who was selected for both
the interprovincial and international
squads.
The club’s commitment to the
development and promotion of the girls
game was such that an event to celebrate
the growth of girls rugby and their
From The Ground Up | 42 | www.leinsterrugby.ie