Haverfordwest Rugby Club has a growing number of talented young rugby players joining their popular section for women and girls and there is no doubt that one of the most promising in the latter category is Katie Thicker, who uses her pace to such good effect on the wing that she has already caught the eye of the Scarlets and Welsh selectors at under 18 level, even though she is just sixteen years of age.
 
Katie enjoys a range of sports but it should come as no surprise that she is so involved in the oval ball game should come as no surprise because her father is Andrew Thicker, who for so many years was the backbone of the Haverfordwest men’s first team and coached there too, as well as enjoying a very successful time as a back row man with a very good Tenby United team.
 

Following in father’s footsteps

 
She first took an interest in the game when she used to watch her dad and play alongside some of the lads who were there with their fathers. Katie had also practised with the boys when she was at Prendergast Primary School and by the time she was starting out as a teenager in Sir Thomas Picton School she had already been roped in by Clodagh Llewellin to play for the Haverfordwest junior girls’ team.
 
“We all used to follow the ball as if we were on magnets attached to it and I always remember that when I ran through for my first try I wasn’t quite sure what to do with the ball,” admitted Katie with a chuckle, “but we gradually improved and I have always regarded Clodagh as a great role model so I had no hesitation in moving up to the under 18 team which she took charge of.”
 

Likes to lead by example

 
Katie is now captain of the team and enjoys the responsibility. They have loud music in the changing rooms and she says a few words before they go out to get the girls ready for the action. “I’m a competitor by instinct,” Katie told us, “and so it is nice to be so involved.”
 
Katie was still only 15 and she was playing not only on the wing but at centre and outside half in the full contact game against girls two years older than her, and must have impressed because she was invited to go for trials as a winger with the Scarlets under 18 girls’ team coached by Darrell Morgan.
 

Sevens a speciality – but too young to play for Wales!

 
She played for the sevens’ side which entered the Rumney Sevens’ Festival in Cardiff and they won that, with Katie using her pace to good effect as she scored two tries in helping the Scarlets win in front of a big crowd.
 
From that performance she was roped in to be a member of the Welsh ‘A’ Squad for the UK School Games without having to attend the trials and she was part of a group which trained at the Welsh Elite headquarters at The Vale in preparation for representing her country in a tournament in Sweden.
 
Katie was understandably jubilant at being chosen but two days before the squad was due to set off she was stunned to learn in a phone call from Darrell Morgan that she was unable to travel because she was too young to be included.
 
“I was devastated and must have cried for about a week,” joked Katie, “but I’m over that now and I’m hoping to go with the team for this year’s competition, which is in Belgium – and at least I’m definitely old enough now!”
 

Back in action for the Scarlets

 
She is back in action with the Scarlets under 18 girls’ team after attending the pre-season training at The Barn in Parc y Scarlets and is playing alongside fellow Pembrokeshire players in Jazz Joyce (St Davids), Carys Lloyd (Pembroke) and Jess Charles (Solva).
 
“We have played three matches so far against the other regions and have to play them again soon, where we will be looking to build on our two wins and a draw so far,” said Katie.
 
“We beat the Ospreys 48-0 at Ammanford and I was thrilled to score a try from inside my own 22, and we had a closer win over the Dragons in an away match at Ystrad Mynach before we drew 19-all against the Blues.”
 

Lots of travel – but great family support

 
Katie and Co train weekly in Llanelli and they work hard, starting off with warm-up drills and touch rugby, followed by work aplenty on tackling, cover defence, tactics and set moves like their ‘New Zealand’ move featuring outside half and full back, or their ‘Aussie Switch’ which sees Katie coming into space created by the scrum half.
 
It means a fair bit of travel but Katie has full support of her parents, with mum Julie usually the chauffeur and telling us,
“I didn’t used to watch Andrew play much because to be honest I found men’s rugby boring but I think Katie and her team-mates are far more enjoyable to watch!’
 
Katie also has a sister Jenni (11) who enjoys life-saving classes and brother Gabriel (9) who already plays rugby, football and cricket.
 

Other sports

 
She has also enjoyed a range of sports before focussing on rugby, playing at centre in netball for STP School and going on a ten-day trip to the West Indies organised by teachers Mrs Delyth Trueman and Miss Heather Hale, where they not only competed in netball and hockey but swam with turtles and watched a top 20/20 cricket match.
 
Not content with that little lot, Katie also used to play football for Prendergast Villa and run 100 metres for Pembrokeshire Harriers. Last season saw her join Lydia Thomas, Phoebe Bellerby and Alicia Pugh as part of the school’s 4x100 metres relay team which not only won the Pembrokeshire and Dyfed Finals but also went on to become Welsh champions as well.
 

Hard trainer

 
Back on the rugby front, Katie also trains weekly with the Haverfordwest squad coached by Gareth Charles and Ben John, learning not only from them but from senior players like Clodagh, Joanna Price and Nina Colville.
“Our coaches think they are giving us sessions that are harder than those ‘up the line’,” Katie told us, “but we just smile because they are softies really and we have lots of fun as well as work hard.”
 
Katie shows her commitment to the game because she also attends the Strength Academy Wales gymnasium, run by Simon Roach and Owain Rowlands, three times a week to help with her conditioning.
“I work at the weights for two of those and then do sprint work on the track with Owain on the other evening, as part of the special training programme designed for her by Simon.
 

And finally . . .

 
Ask Katie about ambitions and she says that she would love one day to represent her country in sevens at the Commonwealth Games or even the Olympics but in the meanwhile she is aiming for a Sports Science course at somewhere like Coleg Sir Gar, which specialises in rugby, and possibly followed on by a degree in Sports Injury Therapy at Cardiff University or Cardiff Met.
 
It means a lot of work but there is no doubt that Katie Thicker has already shown ability to commit herself as a very competitive young sportswoman, but also is a very modest and pleasant teenager who is a credit to herself, her family and her sport!