About The Eccleshall Ladies
How did it all begin and why?
One Spring evening a group of about 4 or 5 girls sat discussing the options available to help them get fit, lose weight and socialise. During this discussion, a number of the Eccleshall RUFC men's team walked in and were keen to offer advice - "why not play rugby?"
Tim West agreed to coach the girls if they could get 10-12 girls together. "You're on!"
So it was after much cajoling and begging and pleading that "no you won't get injured" and "no it won't really hurt", a group of 10 girls turned up on a baking hot Sunday the week after Mothering Sunday 2003 to be taught how to play rugby.
None of the girls at that first training session knew anything about rugby, the fact that you had to pass the ball backwards in order to move forwards was a mystery, and most keep stopping everytime they got the ball before passing because that's what we had all been taught for netball!
12 months passed and with players leaving (to have babies) and new players arriving some of whom knew how to play (yippee), we were ready for our first game.
The local game was to played at Newcastle and nerves were frayed and even though the team lost the game that day, it was their team spirit that got them through and their love and passion for the game was sealed.
A photo of that first game shows that 6 years on we have retained 10 players from the original side and with the squad now running at 30+ members with competition for places, you can see that the Eccleshall Ladies women's rugby team have come a long way from that baking hot sunny afternoon
And we're ready to go a lot further!
