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Two Mahurangi College front-rowers will head to Europe next year to play in a top international youth rugby tournament.
Lottie Collis and Poppy Hallam were head-hunted by Northcote Rugby Club for its Under-19 girls rugby programme, which culminates next April with a tour to the annual Portugal Rugby Youth Competition in Lisbon.
Hallam says they were approached in May when Northcote was looking for extra front row players and they jumped at the chance to join the programme, which includes players from across Auckland and from as far away as Cambridge.
Since then, the two Mahu Premier U-17 players have been training once a month with the Northcote side, with more sessions scheduled as summer approaches.
The tour will start in France, with a warm-up match against a top club in La Rochelle on the west coast, then continue on to Portugal for the tournament itself, which attracts 120 teams from nearly 30 countries and features more than 300 matches.
The Kiwi side will be paired with a ‘sister’ team, with whom they will share training and meals and provide support for each other.
Collis says it’s a dream to be playing the sport they both love and travelling while doing so, but they have a fundraising mountain to climb before they get there – flights, accommodation and activities will set each player back by several thousand dollars.
They are planning a range of activities, such as sausage sizzles and raffles, and are also seeking sponsors for naming rights on their training shirts – there are 20 spots on each shirt that cost from $5 up to $100.
Northcote’s U-19 girls’ programme director, Darrin Robertson, says the training module and tour were developed to fill in gaps the road to senior rugby for young women.
“Women’s rugby is growing in participation, skill, and visibility, but there are still gaps in the pathways for girls to start and stay in the sport,” he says.
“When it comes to leaving school and going to clubs, it’s common that the only option is the open women’s team, and that can be a big step up.
“This programme is for girls who wish to learn, play, and develop their rugby, and to help guide them through and take it as far as they want to.”
Anyone wishing to sponsor Collis and Hallam can find out more by emailing them at poppylottieportugal@gmail.com or visit https://northcoterugby.nz/u19-girls-rugby-program/sponsorship
