A rugby club in Caerphilly continues to boom after Community Chest funding from the Sports Council for Wales plays its part in creating the breeding ground for a female international.

Community Chest, which is celebrating its 10^th anniversary this year, is a National Lottery grant managed by the Sports Council for Wales and supported locally by Caerphilly County Borough Council. It is designed to encourage more people to become more physically active, more often.

After a decade’s worth of investment totalling over £9million, the Sports Council for Wales and the National Lottery are celebrating the successes of community groups and sports clubs that have flourished through unlocking Community Chest funding.

Caerphilly Tigers Girls Rugby Club is one such example, established in July 2004 entirely through the work of Sport Caerphilly and with Community Chest funding, the investment in the clubs coaching staff has paid dividends and played its part in producing an international player.

£1,840 of National Lottery cash has been injected into the club since its inception five years ago, with the first award being ploughed into providing the necessary equipment needed to establish both an U14 and U17 girl’s team.

Instrumental in creating a sustainable club for the girls in which to improve their game, the funding also provided the necessary coaching qualifications for two of Sport Caerphilly’s community coaches.

Samantha Corns, one of the coaches at the club, comments on the impact the cash has made:

"Without the Community Chest funding there wouldn’t have been any avenues for us to reach the girls in Caerphilly and encourage them to take up rugby. The initial award we received was injected into not only the essentials such as equipment, but also into running tournaments and taster sessions within schools in the area to allow them to try their hand at the sport and to instil interest."

Now purely run by volunteers recruited through the founding members and trained by a secondary Community Chest grant, the club is not only going strong but is proving to be the breeding ground for possible future stars of ladies rugby in Wales.

Paris Nicholas is one of the club’s success stories, with her talent identified at the initial schools tournament aimed at encouraging the youngsters to get involved, she has gone on to flourish under the guidance of the coaching staff at Caerphilly Tigers. So much so, that her talent was spotted during trials to represent the club on a regional level and was not only selected but also made captain of the East Wales U17 side.

Largely thanks to the grounding and the recipe of success at Caerphilly Tigers, Paris has reached even higher heights by playing for Wales Women’s U20s at just the tender age of 18. Five of Caerphilly Tigers Girls’ have also been selected to participate in the regional U18s Dragons set-up.

Since its inception in 1999, communities across the length and breadth of Wales have been investing heavily in sports and physical recreation projects.

The Sports Council for Wales has recently raised the level of grant available. Organisations keen to develop sport and physical recreation in Wales can receive up to £1000 for a qualifying project over a 12 month period.

Chair of the Sports Council for Wales, Philip Carling, said:

"Community Chest has been and continues to be a huge success and is very popular throughout Caerphilly. Over the last ten years, it has made a big difference to small community projects right across Wales and now embraces all sorts of community groups such as the Women’s Institute, not just your local football club."

"Panels based in each of the 22 local authorities in Wales hold the purse strings and have delegated authority to award grants to worthwhile projects. We want to hear of bright ideas and projects that will get more people in Caerphilly more active, more often."

Sports clubs are a vital part of the fabric of community life. They, and the people behind the scenes, have the opportunity to source and mould young talent into the stars of the future and instil the core values of hard work, belief and – above all – enjoyment of the sport.