Women’s Sport At Cardiff Met Continues To Thrive
Recent sports results have reinforced the reputation of Cardiff Met for leading the way in women’s sport.
The women’s teams are thriving across the board, with the women’s rugby team making history earlier this year after becoming the first UK University to win a tenth BUCS championship title, by winning nine out of ten games in their journey to victory.
The squad scored a total of 628 points with just 21 conceded.
Emily Underwood, WRFC team captain, said: “As 1st team captain at Cardiff Met WRFC, I can truly say that the team and the programme offered within our university is something special. We are one of few universities in Great Britain to put out two representative teams every week, playing at both championship and premiership level, and we also play every Sunday in the Welsh premiership – an opportunity which enables us to better our skills, game play and mental capabilities.
“The girls are a pleasure to captain and there is an enjoyable, friendly atmosphere which is reflected in the number of girls who train and play every week, with every one of them putting in the hard work on and off the pitch. We have been in ten BUCS finals, and I have been fortunate to experience and play in three and win two of these, one of which I captained in this year.
“Obviously the sporting success at Cardiff Met is a great one, with many teams doing well every week. From a female perspective, to dominate in a predominantly male sport, and even to achieve, on occasions greater success than the men’s team, is something special and is what makes us at Cardiff Met Women’s rugby unique.”
The women’s football team is also celebrating after an undefeated season run that ended with the team recently winning the Welsh Premier Women’s League title for the third successive season.
The squad’s success means they are now looking forward to pre-season training in July before going on to enter the Women’s European Champions League qualifiers in August 2016.
Kerry Harris, Senior Lecturer in Sports Coaching at Cardiff Met and the women’s football team coach, said: “We are delighted to have won the Women’s Welsh Premier League for the third consecutive season and feel that this is testament to the commitment we have from players, staff and the university to female sport.
“I think this consistency of results is also reflective of the programme we have here at Cardiff Met and the extensive Sport Science support structures. We are all looking forward to the UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds in August and hope that we will get the opportunity to host; that will be a fantastic opportunity for us as a club and the University. Our preparation going into the campaign is going to be challenging but also an exciting time for all.”
Rhys Edwards, Performance Director for Women’s Rugby at Cardiff Met, added: “This year we have really raised the bar in terms of the standards and culture within the programme. The multi-disciplined support from the university allows us to deliver a high performance programme. This allows the players to consistently perform and continually improve.”
The incredible run of achievements from both teams is testament to Cardiff Met’s ongoing influence on Welsh sport, and on women’s sport in particular, with the University living up to its reputation of excellence in the area. It is also a positive example of Sport Cardiff’s Girls Together campaign in action.
In 2014, Cardiff Met signed a Joint Venture Agreement with the City Council to transfer the council’s Sports Development Team, Sport Cardiff to Cardiff Metropolitan University.
Sport Cardiff’s Girls Together campaign, which launched in March, aims to encourage women and young females across Cardiff to take part in more sporting activity.
Based at the University’s Cyncoed campus, Fay Benningwood, Sports Development Coordinator – Women and Girls at Sport Cardiff, said: “The recent results and performances of the female teams at Cardiff Met are a very positive outcome for promoting positive female role models in sport, which links to the ethos of the Sport Cardiff Girls Together campaign.
“Girls Together aims to inspire more females to take part in sport and physical activities through a four-target approach – play, compete, coach and volunteer. Sport Cardiff is working closely with Cardiff Metropolitan University to promote the campaign and provide opportunities which link to the campus, its staff and students as well as the wider general public, who can access the facilities. Many of our campaign ambassadors and role models are students or members of staff at Cardiff Met and have been selected for their abilities to inspire others to be active.
“The Girls Together campaign provides specific sessions as well as supporting the work of partners and clubs both at the University and in communities across the city. The Girls Together campaign has also provided opportunities for students to up-skill themselves by carrying out coaching accreditations and providing opportunities for sports teams to link with specific Girls Together events and festivals.”
Cardiff Met students and alumni often go on to compete at the highest level in their sporting arenas, with former female students including silver-medallist Commonwealth Judo Champion Non Evans, who has also represented Wales internationally in rugby, weightlifting and wrestling, and Sophie Ingle, who has been recently signed to Liverpool FC and is captain of the Wales women’s national football team.
Other students have also gone on to compete internationally in a number of events, including the Netball World Cup and the Commonwealth Games.
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