Cleckheaton youngster Pippa impresses at performance trials

Cleckheaton Girls rugby player Pippa Curley has gained successful entry into the England Rugby Developing Player Programme (ERDPP).
Cleckheaton Under-13s earned an impressive win over Old Brods despite four of the team playing their first game of rugby union.Cleckheaton Under-13s earned an impressive win over Old Brods despite four of the team playing their first game of rugby union.
Cleckheaton Under-13s earned an impressive win over Old Brods despite four of the team playing their first game of rugby union.

Pippa has been attending a gruelling series of trials over the last couple of months aimed at testing every aspect of a player from speed and agility to game awareness and team work.

Pippa attended her first trial at the end of last year, after which Yorkshire Carnegie and the Yorkshire County RFU selected the Cleckheaton youngster for a series of further trials where girls from across the county went head to head.

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Pippa grabbed a couple of tries in her trial game and demonstrated the ability to tackle much bigger opponents.

Pippa has played all her junior rugby at Cleckheaton and has recently moved into the Girls Under-13s, where she leads her team with respect from all the players .

Pippa will now attend ERDPP sessions where she will be coached by Carnegie and Yorkshire county staff aiming to get into the Yorkshire squad.

Cleckheaton Under-13s Girls produced a spirited performance to beat a well established Old Brods.

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The Girls were playing only their third game of the season and four of the team hadn’t played together before and were playing their first game of rugby union.

The fixture was played over three 15 minute periods to give the girls time to adjust to each other and the new rules .

The Cleckheaton girls took the game to their opponents from the first whistle and stunned Brods by scoring the opening try.

Cleckheaton continued to show excellent teamwork and determination throughout and maintained their work rate, despite the opposition scoring some excellent tries of their own.

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The Cleckheaton Girls never took a backward step and showed how fitness and team spirit can win matches against a team that has been together for over two seasons and had hoped to use the fixture as a training exercise but were unable to prevent defeat.

Cleckheaton have a thriving junior and youth section and are looking to welcome new players, both boys and girls.

They run junior teams from Under-6s to Under-18s regardless of ability and experience and further information is available by contacting Andy Clark on 07703 177115.

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