City of Derry has been nominated by the Ulster Ladies Management Committee as the Ulster Club of the Month for December, following their recent victory in the women’s 10s competition.
The club has since nominated Ciara McGurk as their Player of the Month.
Derry stampeded through the rounds of the 10s competition, held at their home ground and Carrickfergus, beating Carrick, Harlequins, Omagh and Cooke.
The final, held on 14th December, secured them the prize of a trip to the Aviva stadium to watch Ireland v Italy in the Six Nations tournament, with a 5-0 score thanks to an extra time ‘golden try’ over Carrick.
City of Derry training restarted in September 2013 with coach Rodney Balfour taking the helm again after the team had previously ceased to exist due to a decline in numbers.
Recruitment took place via previous members and a poster/leaflet campaign in local sports facilities and colleges. As a result, numbers have consistently grown and they now have around 20 core players, with training nights seeing 15-18 players on the pitch.
Training involves basic rugby training and laws, as the majority of the team have not played rugby before. The team have played friendlies with other local teams and benefited from extra training sessions with Ulster Branch coaches.
Currently in the Ulster Development League, City of Derry will play in Ulster Qualifying League in the 2014/15 season, as the team progresses and gains experience.