Rugby League is continuing to flourish in the South East after another successful tournament hosted by Brighton & Hove RL and the University of Brighton - including the first ever Rugby League tournament for girls in Sussex.
Three school tournaments took place across the event, and with confirmation of a South of England 9s tournament taking place on June 27 at Hemel Stags, most teams had qualification on their minds.
The highlight of the day was certainly the Girls’ activity which featured many players taking their first steps into Rugby League. St Oscar Romero’s School from Goring-by-Sea put on a dominant display with some powerful runners and equally good tacklers as they picked up a win, with Cardinal Newman deserving runners up. Longhill High School and Brighton Aldridge Community Academy can also be proud of their performances in their first outings as a team.
The Boys’ tournament was a competitive affair, with the tournament coming down to the same two schools as the Girls’ - St Oscar Romero and Cardinal Newman. It was a tough game for both sides with St Oscar Romero leading 8-6 until a slick passing move from Cardinal Newman sent their winger in for a try to take the game 10-8 and give Cardinal the victory.
Elsewhere, there was also a Primary School Festival involving 12 schools for Year’s 3 and 4 – the event featured coaching delivered by sports leaders from Cardinal Newman as well as fixtures between the attending schools.
Brighton & Hove Rugby League Chair, Phil Ward, says:
“It’s been great to get our school’s activity off the ground. Not only have we managed to deliver events for students ranging from Year’s 3 to 9, but we’ve also managed to branch out of the city and run the first ever Rugby League tournament for girls in Sussex.
“We recently announced a partnership with Sport Brighton which means we now use the University campus as our home ground which has been a huge boost. They’ve been hugely supportive in putting together our schools’ events.
“The University of Brighton have their own Men’s Rugby League team in the BUCS competitions and we’re already starting work on putting together a Women’s team. When you add this to the success that Newman College have had in getting to the final of the National Colleges Cup, it’s an exciting time to be promoting Rugby League in Sussex.
“I first started playing Rugby League at University, so my goal is to try and get as many children as possible the opportunity to try it out at school and get the chance to play that I never had.”
More information about Brighton & Hove Rugby League can be found here.
