Chantelle Miell and graduate Olympians awarded England Women’s Rugby Sevens contracts ahead of Commonwealth Games
University of Bath student Chantelle Miell is in line for a place at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games after being awarded a full-time contract in the England Rugby Women’s Sevens programme for the 2017-18 season.
Graduates Amy Wilson Hardy and Natasha Hunt, who both represented Team GB in sevens at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, are also among the 17 players to receive either a full-time or fixed-term contract for the upcoming campaign.
Miell, who studies Sport & Exercise Science and is supported by the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS), made her England Sevens debut in January at the Sydney Sevens in Australia and has gone on to represent her country in the United States, Canada, France and Russia.
She has also had an excellent year in the 15-a-side game, playing for England Women U20 and helping Bristol Ladies reach the Women’s Premiership final for the first time in their history.
Wilson Hardy and Hunt, who studied Integrated Mechanical & Electrical Engineering and Coach Education & Sports Development respectively, return to the sevens set-up after helping England reach the final of the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup in Ireland.
The 2017-18 England Women sevens season will consist of a number of major global tournaments, starting with the HSBC Women’s Sevens World Series where England will compete across five stages worldwide, followed by the 2018 Commonwealth Games which is set to take place on the Gold Coast in April.
In the summer, England will compete in the Rugby Europe Grand Prix Series and, having successfully secured qualification last season, the Rugby World Cup Sevens which will take place in San Francisco in July 2018.
Click here for more information about the rugby programme at the University of Bath.
