Germany Women's National Rugby Sevens Team is a minor national sevens side.
History
In 2012 former national coach Susanne Wiedemann convinced the
German Rugby Union, the
German Olympic Sports Confederation
The German Olympic Sports Confederation (german: Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund or DOSB) was founded on 20 May 2006 by a merger of the ''Deutscher Sportbund'' (DSB), and the ''Nationales Olympisches Komitee für Deutschland'' (NOK) which dates ...
and the
German Army
The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...
to contract four female rugby sevens players in preparation for the
2016 Rio Olympics
)
, nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams)
, athletes = 11,238
, events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines)
, opening = 5 August 2016
, closing = 21 August 2016
, opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer
, cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...
. Jenny Naruhn,
Svetlana Hess, Tilla Dier and Lisa Kropp became the first "sport soldiers" in the Army, which provides high-performance development for a select few male and female athletes from different sports. They undergo basic training, followed by a few military courses annually, while getting paid to train for their sport.
All sport soldiers were based in the
Olympic Centre
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
in
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
from 2012. In addition to the full-time players, other national players were invited to move to the area to attend daily rugby and fitness sessions. The Olympic Centre works in conjunction with the
Cologne Sport University. The number of contracted players increased to eight in 2013, with Steffi Gruber, Laryssa Stone, Alysha Stone, Julia Peters, and Vivian Bahlmann joining Hess, Kropp, and Nahrun.
Despite these efforts, the results of the women in the European Championship tournaments deteriorated, with the team failing to even to place under the top eight teams in Europe in 2015. Weidemann resigned and was replaced by Australian Michael Hooke, while South African Melvine Smith became the U18 coach. The sports soldiers lost their Army contracts. But Smith managed to build on Weidemann's past work to take the U18 squad to a third place in the 2nd European Sevens Championships.
[
]
Players
Previous squads
Squad to 2017 Rugby Europe Women's Sevens
The Rugby Europe Women's Sevens, previously the FIRA–AER Women's Sevens until 2013, is a series of regional championships for women's international rugby sevens in Europe. Prior to 2012, the annual tournament is held over two days, typically ...
(Trophy) in Ostrava
Ostrava (; pl, Ostrawa; german: Ostrau ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 280,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rive ...
and Esztergom
Esztergom ( ; german: Gran; la, Solva or ; sk, Ostrihom, known by alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the right bank of the river Danu ...
* Head coach: Melvine Smith
* Players: Lisa Bohrmann · Katharina Epp · Nora Baltruweit · Annika Nowotny · Steffi Gruber (Cap.) · Mette Zimmat · Julia Braun · Anja Czaika · Katharina Boie · Julia Peters · Carola Gleixner · Leonie Hollstein · Friederike Kempter · Sarah Titgemeyer
Squad to 2012 European Women's Sevens Series: June 16–17, 2012 at Ameland, Netherlands
See also
* Rugby union in Germany
Rugby union in Germany is a minor but growing sport with 124 men's clubs and 5 women's clubs competing in 4 men's and 1 women's national leagues.
Governing body
The German Rugby Federation (german: Deutscher Rugby-Verband or DRV), founded in 19 ...
References
External links
German Rugby Federation Official Site
(German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Germany women's national rugby sevens team
Rugby union in Germany
R
European national rugby union teams
Teams in European Nations Cup (rugby union)
European national women's rugby union teams