VERB MAGAZINE
SPORTS
VOLUME 1
ISSUE 1
FEBRUARY 2014
PAGE 14
In 2013 St Joseph
Convent, Port-ofSpain emerged
the winners of the
School Girls Rugby
League
Five other teams
partici pated in the
com petition:
Bishops Anstey
High School
Mucurapo West
Secondary School
Providence Girls
Catholic School
St. Francois Girls
College
Tranquility
Secondary School
Format of the
Com petition
15 players - 10 a
side - 5 Substitutes
2 teams at 15
mins
Seventeen year old Tiana Penitani (right) is the standout name in a squad of 22 young women named by the Australian Rugby
Union to begin preparations for Rugby Sevens’ debut at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China, next year.
1 referee, 2
assistant referees.
School girls can play rugby too
Five touch
tackles turnover,
simulated rucks,
uncontested
scrums and line
outs.
For more information
on how you school
can become involved
in the league send
you enquires to:
rugbygirlstt@gmail.
com
The sport of rugby is
continuing to grow in
popularity here at home.
The steady rise of the
School Girls Rugby League
of Trinidad and Tobago is
testament to that fact.
A short few years ago, young girls
who wanted to play the sport didn’t
have an organised outlet to do so.
Today, all that is changing. So much
so that the recently concluded First
Citizens’ Sport Foundation Youth
Awards included for the first time,
a female nominee from the sport of
rugby. The history-making honour
was bestowed upon Marika Mendez
of St Joseph Convent, Port-of-Spain.
Kwanieze John, Development
Officer of the Trinidad and Tobago
Schools Rugby Football Union has
played an integral role in ensuring
that young women were given the
opportunity, to not just be exposed to
the game, but to excel at it.
“I 2009 I got injured and I
realised that there was a real lack of
awareness among young girls about
the sport and a very small number
of girls actually playing rugby. So
it honestly became my personal
mission to do something about it.
The girls’ league was as result of this,”
John told VERB recently.
“There seemed to be no serious
interest in the development of the
women's game. In my opinion not
enough was being done. As the youth
development officer at the Royalians
Rugby Club my primary focus was
the development of the men's game.
I thought why not develop the
woman's game additionally?”
She said, “I think it's important that
girls be involved in sports generally.
Rugby is the fastest growing game
in the world and I see it as an
opportunity for young girls to be
physically active as well it's gives
them an opportunity to represent
their school community as well as
their country.”
As a development officer attached
to the school’s union John is the
voice for the women’s game. She is
the first woman to hold a post on the
union’s executive.
According to John the school girls’
program offers a safe environment
for the development of young
women where they can be challenged
physically, mentally and emotionally.
She said, “It’s also an opportunity
for students pursuing Physical
Education at the CXC level to
use rugby as it is included in the
curriculum. Last year, we had two
students from the participating
schools doing rugby for their
assessment who received ones.”
John is happy to report that there
has been a steady increase in the
number of girls interested in the
sport and several of them have also
joined the league tournament.
On the cards for 2014, is the
selection of National School Girls’
team. These girls will be introduced
to contact rugby and the crème of the
crop will go into preparation for a
tour. There are also hopes to expand
the league through the introduction
of more schools.