A BUNCH of rugby-mad girls made history this week as the youngest ever girls rugby league game took place in St Helens.
Playing to a crowd "as big as the open age", Pilkington Recs took on Leigh Miners on Wednesday, June 29 in what was the country's first-ever under 7s girls match.
Spurred on by three Saints Women players who came down to show their support, each youngster "absolutely loved" the occasion and gave everything they had.
Pilks coach Ant Tracey said: "There are no words to describe how happy the girls were when they were playing and they all gave everything they had.
"The fact that we can field a full girls game at this age speaks volumes to what the community game is doing across the North West - every team we play against has at least a few girls playing and it is great to see."
After showing her support to the future rugby stars, Jodie Cunningham spoke about the growth of the women's game at the Rugby League World Cup event at Saints this week.
Jodie said: "It's brilliant to see the great work being done and I think it's [helped by] everything that has happened at this club.
"The fact that we are playing in the stadium with the [Saints] badge on has inspired so many young girls to want to pick up a rugby ball for the first time.
"They don't need to have a separate girls team [at under 7s] but I think there is some girl power that has been inspired into them and they want to showcase that they are a full girls team.
So proud of these little history makers! First U7s all girls team 🙌 pic.twitter.com/uC9YVItMLM
— Jodie Cunningham (@Jodie_cunny) June 19, 2022
"It was a really proud moment just to see them absolutely loving it, especially at that age [...] and you could see how excited they were to showcase what they could do on a field.
"I'm sure the future is going to be bright at Saints if all these little girls get the chance to play so much younger - it's really exciting."
At present, the girls and boys rugby teams will remain mixed until under 12s to support the girl's development.
However, there are hopes that there will eventually there will be an girls leagues at younger age groups if the game continues to grow.
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