Coaches Conor Meese and Ellis Pascall have confirmed the England Students Women’s squad for 2022.
The 22-player party comprises Emily Baggaley (South Wales), Amy Bennett, Becky Grady (Leeds), Chloe Billington (York St John), Megan Bragg (Salford), Amelia Brown, Pippa Curley (both Huddersfield), Katy Fisher (Pontefract), Jess Harrop (Leeds Trinity), Kaitlin Hilton (St John Rigby), Zoe Hornby (Northumbria), Emma Kershaw (Askham Bryan), Gabbi Leigh, Tamzin Renouf (both Leeds Beckett), Orla McCallion (Northumbria), Katie Mottershead (Cronton Sixth Form), Izzy Northorp (Newcastle), Eboni Partington (Bolton), Darcy Stott (Staffordshire), Bella Sykes (Shelley), Danni Waters (Hull), Sophia Williams (LLS Sports College).
Kershaw and Renouf have already made their mark in Super League with York City Knights, while Bragg, McCallion, Baggaley and Brown are with, respectively, St Helens, Leeds Rhinos, Warrington Wolves and Huddersfield Giants.
Meese said: “Massive congratulations are due to everyone who has been selected following really competitive trials.
“Representing England is the pinnacle of Rugby League in this country, and all those selected will be brimming with pride and excitement.
“We have a good blend of youth and experience in the squad, which will hopefully compete well in this year’s President’s Cup and Pankhurst Cup fixtures. Training will be intense and enjoyable, with everyone competing to gain a starting place. It’s going to be an exciting challenge to get the team to clicking in a short space of time, but all the management team can’t wait to get going.”
Pascall added: “I am really pleased with the group of players that we have on board for this year’s programme. There is some exceptional talent throughout the squad and I’m looking forward to starting training with them.”
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Wales, who are building towards the autumn’s Physical Disability World Cup, held trials at Port Talbot towards the end of January.
WRL CEO Gareth Kear said: “We have been working on a PDRL World Cup since 2020 and have committed a financial budget and resources to this new pathway.
“It is a fitting recognition of the work by our WRL board director Neil Lynch, who initiated this form of Disability Rugby League. And it is great that these players will now have an opportunity to represent their national team and help us build the community PDRL game.”
Head coach Craig Fisher added: “Twelve players attended the session and we have since had many expressions of interest.
“The standard was exceptionally high with some very good core skills on show.
“We tested the physical endurance of the players through some tough fitness tests from my strength and conditioning coach Jarad Hinnem, and they were then placed in skill-based activity by my assistant coach Matt Drinkwater. The calibre was such that every player who attended has formally been offered a place in the squad. Special mention needs to be made of Ben Lewis and Morgan Jones who will be our captain and vice-captain respectively.”
He concluded: “We will be holding another session on March 26, at a venue to be confirmed, where we can piece together the remainder of the squad and then plan for the tournament in October. But from seeing the players we have, the attitude, commitment and ability of the group, I feel we will make a huge noise in the World Cup.”
Anyone interested in playing in the Physical Disability World Cup for Wales should email neil.lynch@walesrugbyleague.co.uk.
Players must either be Welsh born or have a Welsh parent or grandparent – or have lived in Wales for at least five years.
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The Rugby Football League is seeking entries for the Challenge Cup Final Primary RL Festival which, after a year’s hiatus, will again take place in London, on Saturday 28 May (the day of the Betfred Challenge Cup Final at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium).
The event will be hosted by London Skolars, whose New River Sports Centre base on White Hart Lane is less than two miles from Spurs’ ground.
Festivals will take place at U7s, U8s, U9s, U10s and U11s and an RFL spokesperson said: “We’re hoping that this will give more clubs the opportunity to attend, and for the children to play in their true age groups. However, if we don’t get enough at one age group then they will just move up into the age group above, as in previous years.”
The RFL, meanwhile, has reminded amateur clubs that the number of positive Covid cases required to result in a team being stood down has changed following the Government’s removal of Plan B restrictions – which had been in place from December 2021 in response to the risks of the Omicron variant – late last month.
The new regulations stipulate that should a team have five or more positive cases within a ten-day period, that team should be shut down for five days, following the last team interaction with a known positive case.
In addition, information on the multiple positive cases should be reviewed to understand if the cases were due to non-Rugby League related activity, and this information shared with the club’s local PHE. Instructions from PHE should be followed, which may take precedence over any RFL-advised shutdown.
The RFL has also reminded clubs that all First Aiders must complete a three-day HSE approved First Aid at Work course; however, having considered the financial impact of this, and regulations in other sports, the RFL will now accept that First Aiders must have completed an Emergency First Aid Course, which is HSE approved, together with completion of the concussion module on Our Learning Zone.
The RFL, which operates a sport-specific Emergency First Aid course which includes a section on managing head injuries, is hosting a dedicated webinar on Microsoft Teams on Wednesday (9 February, 6.00pm-7.00pm) to support community game First Aiders. The webinar will cover concussion protocols and Dr Gemma Phillips, the RFL’s Medical Officer, and Laura Fairbank (Head of Medical) will be in attendance to deliver the session and answer questions.
In addition, a pitch improvement and investment webinar is taking place tonight (Monday 7 February, 7.00pm-8.00pm) when guests will include Richard Eastham of the Grounds Maintenance Association. He will give an insight into the support available to amateur clubs regarding achieving sustainability of natural turf pitches through enhanced education and training of volunteer and professional grounds networks, through improved maintenance, and through the provision of specialist equipment and materials. Those attending will also be given updates on PQS, Toolkits, OuRLearning Zone, networking, education, and development, along with PitchPower and the PAS investment programmes for 2022 season and beyond.
Finally, clubs are reminded that the Game Day Managers course must be completed by the relevant personnel, including those who took it last year, as the course has been updated with new content.
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Woolston Rovers officially reopened the changing rooms at their Monk Sports Club base, following the completion of upgrading work facilitated by a £14,999 grant from the CreatedBy Rugby League World Cup 2021 Capital Grants programme.
The windfall has enabled the Warrington outfit to improve their home and away dressing rooms, install four additional changing rooms for their junior section, and erect an outside toilet block.
Warrington Wolves chair Stuart Middleton and his head coach Daryl Powell were present at the event, together with the mayor of Warrington, Cllr Maureen Creaghan and Charlotte Nichols, the MP for Warrington North.
Woolston chair Steve Moore and senior vice president Warren Whalley, who have played key roles in the process, gave their guests a guided tour and Moore said: “There has been a lot of blood, sweat and tears over the past two years and to see the finished product is immensely satisfying.
“We have overcome a few hurdles along the way and it has been worth it. Warren Whalley put the grant bid together and has been fantastic throughout, ensuring that the project remained on track. We must say a massive thank you to Zoe and Phil Wrench at Limestone Construction Ltd for providing the manpower and materials that have made our home changing room absolutely first class. Having people like that supporting community clubs like ours is vital and we are very lucky to have them.”
Rovers also took the opportunity to show guests their newly-installed defibrillator, which is positioned on the outside wall of the Monk Sports Club base for use, if need be, by the entire local community. The defibrillator has been funded through a £500 grant from the Torus Foundation and a further £500 from the Danny Jones Fund, both facilitated by junior section treasurer Joan Ayres, plus donations from Rovers’ Open Age, and Junior sections, Woolston Rovers AFC and Monks Club social members.
Ayres said: “It has taken less than five months, from submitting the initial grant application, for the defibrillator to be installed. I’d like to thank everybody who has made it possible to have this vital life-saving equipment installed at our club.”
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The renowned charity Ciaran’s Cause, which was established ten years ago, has stepped forward to provide Woolston Rovers Under 9s Greens with a defibrillator.
Ciaran’s Cause was launched in honour of Ciaran Geddes, who suddenly passed away at the age of seven when his heart stopped whilst he was playing on a field in Locking Stumps, Warrington.
His mum, Marika, set up the charity, which works with local organisations and sports teams, to help other families avoid going through the heartache that hers endured. Woolston secretary Dave Whalley said: “Our Under 9s Greens are thrilled to receive such a wonderful and important donation for our team. We will be forever grateful to be gifted such an expensive piece of equipment and it will be on the sideline for every training session and at all matches.”
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