Similar to last season, the Squad has been split into two regions, with Jonathan Gillespie and Neal Johnston responsible for the Eastern Squad and Darren McGuigan and Zoe Templeton taking charge of the Western Squad.
The squad will, before they play each other in a match in a few months, to determine a central Squad of 25.
The West started training last night with 20 girls attending a session at Omagh Rugby Club. The Ulster Rugby development staff put the girls through their paces and the girls responded with determination and willingness to learn throughout.
Paul Heasley, Fitness Development Officer, started the training with a brief talk on nutrition and fitness, before delivering a 40 minutes session, testing the girls on their strength and fitness. The remainder of the session, conducted by Community Rugby Officer, Darren McGuigan and Female Rugby Officer, Zoe Templeton, focussed on skills and team patterns.
With more new faces coming through the ranks it is clear that the standard and popularity of female rugby is growing fast.
The East Region begin their training sessions at Bangor RFC on Sunday 28th July at 10.00am.
The significant staff resources available for the RDS squads has been made possible due to the generous support of the NI Executive and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure through the ‘Promoting Equality, Tackling Poverty and Social Exclusion through Sport’ Programme.