Posted on by Neil Evans

Girls/Women’s Rugby News and Congratulations

Carmarthen Quins is delighted and proud with the recent announcements on professional rugby contracts for the Wales Women’s team that has seen former Quins girls  players recognised.
Firstly  Alisha Butchers has secured a professional rugby contract with the Welsh Rugby Union.  Alisha is no stranger to the club having played for the Quins Girls Under 15’s team previously as well as helping out behind the  bar of the club. With dedication and drive she has now been rewarded with one of the first professional contracts offered by the Welsh Rugby Union.
Secondly Bethan Lewis has secured a retainer contract which will allow Bethan to be able to concentrate on International training more. Bethan started out with the Quins when she was six and continued up the ranks and continued to play for the Quins girls Under 15’s and Under 18’s teams. Again the dedication has rightly brought about a just reward.
All at the club would like to wish both girls and their colleagues the very best of luck in this years Six Nations Tournament and beyond. Go for it Ladies!!
The Quins girls have been on a hiatus for the last couple of years due to the change to a hub format that coincided with the start of the global pandemic but now in conjunction with the Welsh Rugby Union plans are being made to bring back girls specific rugby to Carmarthen. With changes recently announced by the Welsh Rugby Union  girls rugby will look slightly different to what it did previously. Girls can still play mixed rugby from Under 7’s to under 11’s but once they hit secondary school age they will play in girls teams with four age brackets introduced Under 12’s, Under 14’s, Under 16’s and Under 18’s.
The girls season will run generally between March and August and will provide opportunities for the girls of Carmarthen and surrounding areas to try the game of rugby. To facilitate this the club is asking for expressions of interest not only from players in the relevant age groups but also for any volunteers to take on the roles of coaches, team managers and first aiders across the sections. Ultimately we would love to see more players like Alisha and Bethan go through the age groups and put themselves in the mix for regional representative honours and ultimately an international cap/contract.
There is a whole club approach to make this happen and club Chairman Jeff Davies stating that ultimately by the 150th Anniversary of the Quins as a club in 2024/2025 season he would like to see a senior Womens team wearing the famous Cardinal Amber and Black of the Quins following a successful journey through the hub age groups.
Just prior to the first lockdown the under 15’s were kindly sponsored by a number of individuals from the New York Welsh organization via its SponsorOurclub.org initiative and they are 100% backing the re-establishment of girls rugby in Carmarthen.
If you and/or your child are interested in more detail and would like to be part of an exciting journey then please get in touch via email to d4ddo@hotmail.co.uk or Cleo Hardy at chardy@wru.wales and we can keep you updated on the arrangements as they are agreed.