Battersea Ironsides Inner Warrior Success

On the 23rd of January Ironsides held a free ‘Come and Try It’ Inner Warrior rugby morning. The session was open to all girls aged from 10-17 and aimed to introduce them to rugby, a sport they rarely get the opportunity to play in school.

The session was led by one of England’s Red Roses Bryony Cleall and new head coaches Amy Chestnutt and Fiona Sutherland. It was also supported by current players from the women’s section and junior coaches too.

53 girls attended and you couldn’t move for muddy smiles while girls hit pads, passed balls and enjoyed getting stuck in!

Player Poppy Dyson said:

‘We played lots of different fun rugby games, the girls also tried some contact by running at the tackle tubes and getting nice and muddy - all with laughter and big smiles! It was brilliant to have Bryony Cleall leading the session, she’s very inspiring and it was such a great opportunity for young girls to be able to learn and develop from her coaching.

You could tell at the start of the session a lot of the girls were quite nervous - new people, new sport. But the power of rugby brought them out of their shells, and it was very special to see so many girls making friends and enjoying a great morning of rugby at Ironsides!’

The training was rounded off with an inspiring speech from Bryony, she explained how there were so few opportunities for girls to play rugby when she was younger and she is so pleased that all the girls attending the Inner Warrior had the opportunities she’d not had access too. Bryony encouraged them to dream big and know they can achieve whatever they choose to put their mind to.

Bryony said:

“Sport - specifically rugby - has changed my life, given me my values and created memories that I’ll never forget. I want to make sure girls are given the same opportunities as boys in sport and the Inner Warrior is a perfect way to introduce them to the game and let them see how special rugby is.”

The girls section is growing rapidly so do spread the word to any girls in your life who would like to get involved!

The girls train on Garratt Green from 10.00am-11:30am on Sunday mornings and all are welcome to join! For more info contact girls.manager@ironsidesrugby.com