2019 started as is now customary – ready for action with an icy New Years Day Dip in the Hampstead Heath ponds - and what a year it’s been – Hampstead Ladies RFC’s 15th!

✅WE’VE REPRESENTED

We had a record number of players playing at a representative level this year – with 5 Ladies acquiring county honours, and one captaining the squad. Two of our players were also picked to represent the British Police, both in matches on home soil, as well as at the Police Games in Hong Kong.

We appeared on BTSport’s Ruby Tonight and met the legend that is Emily Scarratt

✅ WE’VE CHALLENGED OURSELVES

We kept motivated and fit during breaks from the season with our now annual #IronMay challenge and latterly with our daily #HampsteadChristmasFitness challenge.

We kept up the activity over the summer break with weekly #MuscleHeath weight training sessions and weekly mixed touch games (sponsored by the Old Oak) out on the Heath. Some of the Ladies also played in a formal tag league in Hyde Park and we sweated it out at the beginning of pre-season in back to back sessions at the Engine Room.

We enjoyed an active summer sevens season, with great days out at Summer Social, Lit 7s and Haringey 7s (the latter alongside our Men’s squad).

Mid-July saw us joining forces with the Men's and Junior's sections, participating in the annual Hampstead Heath Give It A Go Day. It also served as a great get together for the Hampstead Old Girls and their families to celebrate Hampstead Ladies RFC’s 15th anniversary.

✅WE’VE SOCIALISED

We took up residence for whole days at a time at our Sponsors The Gipsy Queen and The Vine to enjoy fine food, drinks and hospitality whilst watching the 6 Nations, the Rugby World Cup and the Women's Football World Cup. Bottomless Brunches became a regular theme.

We took 40+ on tour to Dendermonde, Belgium (which was brilliant - but as we all know I can’t say more #WhatGoesOnTourStaysOnTour)

Many of us enjoyed a great day celebrating equality at London Pride. Our annual Pub Golf teed off well in Camden par for the course and the introduction of the non-drinking course was a hole in one and our Family Social was a great way of integrating and getting to know some of our new joiners this season.

The social element of 2019 was rounded off at our annual Christmas Carol Crawl – this year's being recognised as the best yet – with lots of money raised for charity, a fantastic turn out from all sections and some brilliant fancy dress efforts.

✅ WE’VE VOLUNTEERED & FUNDRAISED

We raised money for Cancer Research by participating in the annual Swimathon in April and for the RFU Injured Players Foundation at our successful Pub Quiz Fundraiser in October.

We had 1 London Marathon completer, 4 Ride London completers and 1 player completing an epic Lands End to John O’Groats cycling mission – all challenging themselves physically and mentally and raising much-needed funds for charity in the process.

This was the first year we competed in as well as volunteered at the Hampstead Heath Duathlon, with 2 Ladies teams completing the course on a very sunny September day – we’ll def be back for more next year!

We’ve also boosted our links with the Hampstead Juniors section with several Ladies giving up their time to coach on Saturday mornings.

✅ALL THIS & WE’VE EVEN HAD TIME TO PLAY SOME CRACKING RUGBY!

We’ve hosted two successful Club Days – showcasing the best of our skills on the pitch to other Club Members and Supporters. We’ve gained a new Coach who has fitted in well with our Coaching Dream Team.

We finished the 2018/19 season near the top of both of our leagues after a hard-fought season.

On the pitch, the 2019/20 season got off to a bit of a shaky start, with losses for both teams. But as our numbers grew, attendance at training picked up to a record high and with hot competition for spaces on the squads, we managed to turn this around and get back to our winning ways.

We finished pre-Christmas with 2 x home wins, the 1s being the first team in the league to beat Lewes this Season, and the 2s turning around a 90+ point deficit from earlier in the season, so there is everything to play for in 2020.

We’ll be working hard, consolidating our game plan and pushing for those wins to finish in the best league positions we can.

▶️SO WHAT NEXT??

2019 was another jam-packed year of Fitness, Friendship and Fun, showing again that as well as all our hard work on the pitch and at training Hampstead Ladies RFC are about #MoreThanJustRugby

We’ll be back hitting the ground running at our first training session of 2020 on Thursday 2nd in prep for both squads going straight into away matches on Sunday 5th Jan. Look forward to seeing you there – starting as we mean to go on!

For now, though I’d like to wish all Hampstead Ladies, our friends, family, supporters and sponsors a very happy, healthy and #HampsteadFitness- filled 2020! I can’t wait to see what the next decade brings for us!

Alex
Hampstead Ladies Club Captain