LATER this month, we will be celebrating the two-year anniversary of our Kites and nearly 24 months on, women’s rugby at Chinnor RFC Thame is in a strong place.
We all remember that first session on a hot July Thursday evening in 2020. With social distancing in place, our new female players were enjoying a different start to life as a Kite than they would have done had it been a year previously.
But enjoyment is the word and their love for the game, whether new to rugby or not, is so infectious.
And that mixture of experienced, developmental and new players has created such a success on and off the field.
“We want to be known as a real friendly and welcoming team,” said Kites captain, Emily Partridge.
“Anyone can come and play for us, but we’re still pushing that competitive edge and it’s about getting a good balance on the social side as well. We have lots of little socials and a couple of big ones, we’re even thinking about punting for August."
She added: “It's really nice to see our more experienced players helping the development players. We also have people who had never picked up a ball before and they were fantastic - you wouldn’t have known it was their first season.
“We’ve had people start and were nervous, but came out loving it and wanted to play more. We definitely want to continue to attract people of all abilities and for the whole team to be at the core of the Club, which has been so supportive of women's rugby.
“All I would say to potential new players is, you never know unless you try. We’re welcoming to everyone who wants to give rugby a go and we provide all the support you would want.
“Tabitha Buchner is running our Kites Instagram account and she is great with her responses and will be there for any questions, as will anyone in the team.
“A lot of our girls are spread out across Oxfordshire, so if there are any issues with lifts, for example, there are people around to provide that support.”
Of course, our Kites' on-pitch success rightfully made all of the headlines last season.
It all started in May 2021 when they ended a ten-month wait to play their first game, beating an Oxfordshire Barbarians side on a barmy Friday evening under the Kingsey Road floodlights.
They have since gone from strength-to-strength, completing an unbeaten 2021/22 season to win NC 2 South West (North).
“We knew there was something special about the team,” said Emily, “and there was such a good buzz that first evening. There were a lot of people watching and everyone performed excellently, especially with it being their first game for the Kites.
“We knew we would be able to compete in the league, but to come away with an unbeaten season was fantastic and it has definitely given people that drive to keep going.”
Keep going they will and, following the RFU’s league restructure, our Kites have been promoted to Level 4 and placed in National Challenge 1.
They will come up against Wasps 2nd, Teddington Antlers, Barnes, Chesham, London Welsh, Reading, Chobham and Hammersmith & Fulham 2nd, while they have an exciting local derby with Oxford Harlequins to look forward to.
Emily added: “It was really special to have our promotion confirmed after winning the league.
“To see the team gel and establish what we're about while still being a success, was amazing for a first season.
“We’re now going into a league where it’s obviously going to be more competitive and I’m sure we will taste our first defeat at some point. But you learn so much from that and we have also got plenty of work-ons from last season as well.
“It’s definitely going to be a tougher league, we’re going to playing against some very good teams. With the restructure, it’s not only us coming into an already established league, so it’s going to be interesting to see where we’re going to be at. Our second season and going into a new league, we’re just excited to see what happens.”
Our Kites train at 7pm on Thursdays, with all abilities welcome. If you would like to get in touch, please email kites@chinnor-rfc.com or message us on Instagram via @chinnor_kites or @ChinnorRFCThame.