Eastern Counties Call Up for Harlow Rugby Club Ladies

Following a trial game just before Christmas five members of Harlow Ladies team have been invited to join the Eastern Region squad. Only 30 players in total were picked for squad, and the first training session is on the 29th January at Writtle. On this basis the Harlow players must have a very good chance of selection for the upcoming matches against South East, Yorkshire and East Midlands and for regional cup games. The experience gained playing at a higher level will boost both the playing careers of those selected and also of the Harlow Ladies squad. The successful players are: Chloe Van Dop (flanker and No 8), Tracey Lee (Lock), Sarah Stimpson (Wing ), Keighley Diprose (Fly Half) and Clare Schneider (Tight Head Prop). The club would like to congratulate all the players on their selection. The fact that some of those selected started learning rugby from scratch at Harlow Rugby Club illustrates the opportunities that exist for ladies looking for a new sport and will hopefully encourage others to take it up.

As a relatively new but fast growing sport Women’s Rugby, even at county level, is not a wealthy sport. This means that the girls selected will have to meet their own training and match expenses. The Harlow team has recently signed a sponsorship deal with the restaurant Essence of India which makes an important contribution to the cost of the club side. This will make it easier for the club to help those members playing representative rugby.

A few details on the players selected.

Chloe Van Dop - Originally showed an interest at Bishops Stortford but because they did not have an adult team at the time, moved to Harlow in the 2003/04 season. She has played for the county in 2004/5, and is currently working in the Fire Service in London.

Tracey Lee – Learned her rugby at Harlow and started playing in the league team last season. She is heavily involved in Judo, and tackles strongly in defence and also is renowned for breaking the gain line in attack.

Sarah Stimpson - Started playing for Harlow in 2003/04. She represented the county last season after a late phone call requesting her presence. She is a physio for a local football club (Cheshunt) and currently studying at university.

Keighley Diprose - learnt at Harlow, has been playing since the start of the ladies team four years ago. She plays number 10 (fly half), has developed her game hugely over the last year and this has been proved by the selection

Clare Schneider - Started playing at Harlow in 2002/03 season, previously played at Saffron Walden for 4 years until they folded. She played for Trojans (National One team in Southampton) for 6 months last season due to job relocation, plays tight head prop or second row, ran under 16's team at and Saffron Walden.