By Sports Reporter/Doha
With primary support generously donated by Sara’s Secret Doha, Qatar standout players Christine Foster and Delaney Macneil are gearing up for their maiden campaign in the Amsterdam 7s Rugby tournament this coming May as part of Movers and Sheikhas, a 12-member ladies rugby squad selected from numerous teams around the Gulf.
Amsterdam 7s is one of rugby’s largest and most established international sevens competition and the Movers and Sheikhas’ entry marks the first time that a gulf ladies team has been placed in the invitational meet.
According to Christine Foster, “the team was formed by a group of players from various teams around the region who wanted to take rugby to the next level”.
From a core group of six players, additional ones were selected largely based on the player’s performances in the annual
Dubai 7s.
Foster, who has been playing rugby for 16 years including three with the Doha ladies team where she also works as the Sports Therapist at the Doha Rugby Football Club (DRFC), has already embarked on a rigorous training program in preparation for the tournament.
“Preparation is already in effect with all girls in training for the rugby season at hand, the Gulf Conference. Once this has finished, the team will be getting together and do skills session,” she says.
“This is going to test our abilities and knowledge of rugby and we are hopeful that we emerge victorious and look forward to other 7s tournaments next season”.
Aside from the fitness training programs each player is working on, they would also be given individual regime by March that focuses on sprinting and strength.
Foster believes that “each player brings a unique quality to the team but the training helps in the essential skill areas of power, speed, aggression and ultimately the drive to win. We are all excited to be facing new teams and playing together as a whole unit representing the
region”.
17-year-old Qatar Academy student Delaney Macneil, who has grown steadily through the different age groups and competitive fields of the sport since she began playing at 10 years old, is also getting valuable exposure in the current rugby season and training hard for the Movers and Sheikhas’ inaugural tournament.
“In order to prepare, I am pushing myself in fitness and conditioning since we will be playing in a more challenging league”.
She asserts: “I am really looking forward to the new level of rugby I will be able to play. I always aspire to play a higher level of rugby and by playing with a great group of ladies and against such strong teams I really feel as though I’ll be able to learn a lot”.
As the youngest member of the team, Macneil definitely knows what it takes to rise to challenges all for the love of the game. “When I first started rugby, I was playing on a boy’s team, one of the only girls. As the years went on I continued playing with boys being the only girl on the team,” she shares.
“However when I completed under 14 level with the boys I was told I could no longer play with them, yet there was also no under 18 girls teams for me to train with”. To maintain her competitive level, she began training with the ladies team of DRFC while playing for an under 18s girls team based in Sharjah in tournaments.
“I was unable to rugby for Doha for two years due to my age. Finally at the age of 16 I was able to play my first tournament for Doha Ladies, the youngest at the time!” Similar to Macneil’s development, the burgeoning interest in the sport in Doha is also steadily growing.
Today, Doha has two ladies rugby teams that compete in 7s tournaments. With the support from primary sponsor Sara Secrets – an up and coming made to order clothing boutique based in Doha – and DRFC, Foster and Macneil are both raring to seize this opportunity to represent Doha in a diverse Gulf ladies team and to test their mettle against equally passionate teams in an international level.
“The team name Movers and Sheikhas is a fun and memorable name that still represents our Arab roots as a team,” says Macneil.
“More than anything our team really stands for the love of rugby. We all came together and will try our hardest to do well in the sport that we love while still having fun”.
