Emerging Schools: what's your school doing?

On May 5th two U14 girls teams from two schools in England will be playing at Twickenham in the final of the Girls Emerging Schools competiton - and there is no reason why your school should not be one of them.

The whole point of the competition is that it is for schools with no real history of playing the game - so the fact that you school does not have a girls team is no bar to taking part. On the contrary it means that the competition is aimed at you!

The plan is to try to at least put together a 7-a-side team from each school to play in a tournament in North Herts in January - but only if enough schools show an interest!! And from what we hear North Hertfordshire school at least have been ... less than enthusiastic so far (schools in Welwyn, on the other hand, are falling over themselves to take part - which is why Welwyn RFC can get so many U14s!).

Every school in North Hertfordshire has been contacted by Herts RFU - and reminders are going out today! So now is the time for asking questions of your PE department what they are doing. And if they say they've never heard of the competiton then, well, suggest they check their in-boxes again.

The same thing should also be happening in schools in Bedfordshire and elsewhere - so have a word there too.

Your teachers will have 100 reasons for sitting on this unless they think it will work. Enthuse them. If you are young enough to play then tell them that you want to take part. If you are a U17 then offer to help out - and speard the word amongst younger girls. You only need for find around ten girls from years 7-9. Look around you - there are hoards of them! How hard could it be?

The national target is for 34 schools to take enter (17 took part in a pilot competition last year), so your school has a 1:17 chance of playing at the most famous rugby stadium in the world. Not bad odds, really...