Kinross hosted the first Central West schoolgirls 7s round

Schools from Orange and Bathurst descended onto Kinross on March 11 for what was billed as a 'come and try' event before the season proper begins this coming Friday.

CEO of Central West Rugby, Tink said that for many of the girls, it was their first taste of the game.

"It was a tremendous afternoon with a really supportive crowd," he said.

"It was a bit of a party atmosphere. Plenty of young people but also lots of mums and dads came down as well.

"The girls certainly had a fair bit of fun. They played nice and aggressive as well. There were some big hits and some good tries scored. Talking to them, there were some sore bodies on Monday.

The Jakiya Whitfield Cup is part of an initiative to grow the sport amongst girls, with Kinross to once again host the teams this Friday from 4pm.

"I think a few of the girls are starting to recruit some others, so it's exciting times," Tink added.

"There's a couple of girls from other schools that I know because they play in our Central West rep teams and they were just excited that something began in that space."

Adding to the Bathurst and Orange cohesion this week will be Forbes Redbend. The initial interest shown in the competition has given Tink hope of being able to expand it in the coming years.

"Like all things, we'll start little and then hopefully get a few more schools involved with the 7s," he said.

"Over the next few years we'll maybe try and build to 10s and 15s and offer both formats of the game."

It is hoped that the matches scheduled for March 25 will be played in Bathurst, but a final decision is still yet to be made. The grand final of the competition will be plated on April 1.

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