OFFICIAL: Syd is one of the best rugby players in the country!

Brilliant news - our own Sydney Gregson has been selected for the national U15 Talent Development Group, as well as the Hertfordshire Talented Athlete Programme.

Or, to cut through all this jargon, this means that Syd is - officially - one the best 30 or so rugby players in the country in the U15 age group. She is also the first ever "home grown" Letchworth player ever to reach these heights (Hayley Guilder and Jess Robinson were called up for trials, and Sasha Acheson was first selected for the TDGs while playing for another club).

As a result Syd will have a busy summer of training and development from some of the country's top coaches, followed by a year of fitness support from the top sports scientists at the University of Hertfordshire.

It also means that - assuming she carries on playing beyond junior rugby - Syd is well on the way to an England cap one day. A quick look at a few TDG squads from past years seems to show that maybe 20% of players go on to play for at least the national U20 team (its a bit early yet to say how many get full caps).