New Helensburgh women's rugby team wins two matches

A NEW women's rugby team celebrated two victories just weeks after forming.

The Helensburgh Bear Maidens, established only four weeks ago, triumphed in two out of three matches against seasoned teams at the Kilmarnock Rugby Festival over the weekend.

After narrowly losing to Lenzie, they overcame Kilmarnock with a 20-10 victory, followed by a 20-15 win against Dalziel.

The squad included players Amy Goodchild, Emma Sellars, Katherine McGuigan, Payton Snow, Stacey Loader, Farrah Brown, Amy Colquhoun, Cairistiona McAloon and Jillian McKechnie, who each demonstrated commendable skill and Sportsmanship.

A spokesperson for the club said: "The games were played against ladies' teams who were all formed over two years ago.

"This festival was foremost classed as a great opportunity for the ladies to gain experience, but for them to win two of their three matches was an excellent effort by the team."

Members of the Helensburgh Cricket and Rugby Football Club were keen to create a pathway for women in the sport after being approached about the possibility by the public.

The club held an informal meeting in July to gauge demand within the community, and were taken aback by the level of interest.

They recently held an open day last month in the hopes of building their first women's team.

The event on August 22 turned out to be a huge success, with 16 women joining to meet the team, take part in a training session, make new friends and become part of the "growing rugby family".

What has started as a long-standing ambition has now turned into the formation of a club for women in Helensburgh.

Helensburgh Rugby Club is set to host the upcoming women's rugby festivals on October 25 and November 8, with the same teams slated to participate.

The Bear Maidens are actively seeking new players of all experience levels, with training sessions held every Saturday at 11.45am.

For more information people are asked to email hrfcbearmaidens@gmail.com.