A WOMEN’S rugby team were given the opportunity of a lifetime to play in a national competition.

Harwich and Dovercourt Owls captain Sofia Tricker led her side out at The Rec, home to premiership rugby team Bath, at the Secure Trading 24/Sevens national finals.

The seven a side team competition is for adult players at grassroots level run by England Rugby.

After the team qualified in their regional play-off, the Owls rubbed shoulders against some of the best sevens sides in the country as they took on Wasps FC Ladies, from London, and West Park, from Leeds.

Sophie, 35, said simply being at the tournament was a phenomenal achievement in itself.

She said: “The spirits were really high, we were the underdogs and we travelled a long way to get here so we were really proud to be a part of the event.

“It was amazing, we were all overwhelmed just to see the Rec and play on it as well, we were just so happy to be here.”

“We went to Worcester for the regionals and we were runners-up to Northern Lights, which meant we qualified for the finals so we were all excited. We didn’t realise we would qualify so when we found out it was amazing.

“We tried our best to keep it as low key as possible, we didn’t want to put too much pressure on ourselves.

“There were a lot of high class teams here but we just kept a level head and kept smiling and having fun. We’re like one big family.

“It’s a special group of girls, there’s so many of them who could go on to play at a really high level and deserve to do that.”

Despite not winning the competition Sophie was full of praise for her team’s efforts in getting to the finals.

She said: “It was amazing, we are so thankful to the Rugby Football Union for putting on an event like this.“What makes them so special is how humble they all are, we don’t think we’re better than we are.”

“The experience we gained from the tournament is immeasurable, we played our best and that’s all I wanted from them and gives us more to build on going into the 15s season.”

For more information on the Secure Trading 24/Sevens series visit, www.englandrugby.com/sevens.