Kat, Kim and El do Rugby at Loreto

The opportunity to get involved in the local community and share our skill and passion for rugby with some youngsters literally fell into our laps. Glyn Whatley, a former Welsh rugby representative and current PE teacher at Loreto College, was keen to impart his knowledge of the game to his year 9 students. After explaining the concepts to them, he thought that the students might benefit from putting the theory into some action.

Glyn asked us if any of the women would be keen to help out. So for a few Wednesday mornings in November, Kim Evans, Kathryn Van Diemen and Elena Casciano spared their time and shared their skills, ideas and passion with some of Loreto’s finest year 9 students.

Along with Glyn, the women demonstrated the arts of the ruck, pick and drive, protecting the ball in contact, line outs and even some scrum basics.

The skillful, extremely well mannered and attentive Loreto students displayed a knack for the game, participating in all tasks and carrying them out to the best of their ability. The students rose to the challenge, trying a new sport and actually enjoyed trying something a little different. The Loreto students demonstrated a distinct display of talent, natural ability and progression of skill levels over the three weeks.

Not only were the rugby women impressed with the skill and determination of the students, they had a lot of fun watching the students learn and enjoy the art of rugby.

Well done Kim, Kat and El for giving up their time for the love of the game. There is hope that this display of motivation will inspire and encourage new girls to join the ranks, try something new and let rugby fill that little gap left in everybody’s hearts.

Despite the fact that there is no current junior women’s competition for rugby in South Australia, the significance of what these three women achieved in the classes they taught at Loreto is wonderful. The students are now aware that they can play rugby if so desired. Some of them should. They might tell their friends and parents, start watching some union matches or be a spectator at the Adelaide Sevens tournament. The message that was sent to the students was an important one for the future of women’s rugby in South Australia. We are here, come and play.

A very big thank you to Glyn for his vision, inspiration, innovation and the opportunity to teach the students a little about rugby. We’d also like to thank Loreto College for allowing us into the beautiful school and the students for being so attentive and willing to give rugby a go.