It was all about the girls at Long Eaton RFC at the weekend when the England Women’s U20’s squad held a training camp on Saturday and Sunday. The squad were put through an intensive two days of training at the club as they gear up for an international against France this Saturday at Esher RFC.
On Sunday the LERFC girl’s teams spent time watching the England squad train before starting their own session. Three of the England squad, Caity Mattinson, Jade Shekells and Sue Neumann joined the LERFC girls to share some of their knowledge and offer some coaching tips. This was a great boost for the girls and coaches at the club and for girl’s rugby around the East Midlands. There were members from other clubs in the area down to watch the squad on both days.
Andy Paton, RFU Player Development Manager (Women) who oversees the England U20s programme said
This is the second time we have trained at Long Eaton RFC this year and I have to say the facilities and the atmosphere at the club have been excellent. The volunteers that support the club could not do enough for us and we had dedicated space made available for team meetings and medical treatments and the pitch was in a very good state considering the recent weather.
It was great to see such a thriving girls section at Long Eaton and we were pleased to be able to make our session open to players and coaches from not only the club itself but other local clubs to help develop the strength of the girl’s game within East Midlands. The England U20s players and staff enjoyed working with the Long Eaton girls section and it was great to see so many smiling faces both on the pitch and from watching parents. I wish the Long Eaton girls all the best for the rest of the season and will be looking out for their results.