It was a crisp morning on Tuesday that turned into a beautiful, balmy, late winter’s day at Eltham Rugby Union Football Club, which hosted the first ever Eltham Girls’ Tri Tag Carnival. The event included teams from three schools: Diamond Valley College sent three junior teams and one senior, Eltham College fielded two junior teams, whilst Parade College sent one seniors team, plus we had our own Eltham Barbarians seniors.
So what is tri tag? Tri tag is rugby with the tackling taken out. Instead of tackling, players wear a belt with velcro tags, and a “tackle” is made by pulling off a tag. It’s fast, it’s non-contact, and it keeps the best parts of rugby — the running, the passing, the space, the teamwork and the tries. It’s the perfect way for girls to taste rugby for the first time, because there’s no barrier to entry. You don’t need experience, you don’t need size, and you don’t need to be worried about contact. You just need to be willing to have a go. Within a couple of games the girls were reading the play, backing each other up and calling for the ball like they’d been doing it for years.
Over 80 girls at Eltham — it was a huge day. The girls absolutely loved it. They were out there enjoying the rugby, and the vibes around the ground were fantastic — music playing, the canteen humming and our club rooms open, showing off the Eltham culture at its best.
Diamond Valley College Blues were the overall winners of the juniors ladder, and Parade College beat Diamond Valley College in a thrilling seniors final. The winners were awarded a trophy and a voucher from Grill’d for each player, and the teachers selected a girl from their teams as Most Valued Player, who each received a medal.
We’re very proud of the girls who played for Eltham Barbarians, many of whom come down to training at the club on Tuesdays and Thursdays: Ava, Amelie, Sethumi, Kailey, Amber, Milla, Mia, Eva and Lilly.
It was a fun-filled day, with the sounds of laughter, cheering and clapping reverberating around the ground, generating an awesome vibe. The girls seemed pretty excited to be there and enjoyed the club’s hospitality. Well done to the schools and all the girls who got involved and special congratulations to the winners.
The event was the culmination of major efforts by Alana Su’A and Sylvia Metcalfe to get girls interested in playing rugby in all its forms, and is an outcome from two grants received last year – Victorian State Government Change Our Game Community Activation Grants Program and Australian Sports Foundation Active Kids used to buy kit for Eltham girls.
We are really grateful to the teachers and support staff at the schools who participated and especially thanks go to Brooke George at Diamond Valley College, Brent Wallace at Eltham College and Paul Weston at Parade College (ably helped by our own Ben Hurdle on the day).
We also thank Rugby Victoria and especially Gus Beale. RV supported the girls by providing 2 hours of training through Gus at each school and equipment for the event. Gus was magnificent on the day with multiple roles including refereeing most of the games and supported by Greg Fergus with set up.
Finally, without our amazing volunteers on the day, we could not have held this inaugural event. Big shout outs to: Tim Adams and Leigh Thompson for ground marking and general helping; Nick Bursey for coaching Eltham Barbarians; Alana Su’A and Alicia Loughlin for photography and videography; Ari Su’A for refereeing and scoring, with help for scoring by Yvette Markakis (VP at Brimbank and mother of an Eltham Barbarian player); Ange Southwood, Andrew Boswell, Christine Rose and Tate Mukonza in the canteen; Sylvia Metcalfe in the bar and keeping tally of the scores; and Russ Hurdle who popped in and helped pack up the ground and everyone who tidied up.
Is your school interested? We’d love to grow this carnival and get more schools involved. If you think your school would like to be part of it, please ask your school to email us at [email protected] — we’ll take care of the rest, including help with training in the lead-up.
It was a wonderful day and puts girls’ rugby in the spotlight at our club. We look forward to hosting an even bigger and better event next year!
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