In the year of Women in Sport and with the Women’s Football World-Cup in full swing, Cylch Meithrin Croesgoch has joined the revolution with a celebration of a local, female rugby players.

Jasmine Joyce of St Davids visited Cylch and Ysgol Creosgoch this morning to teach the children rugby skills - and to show that anyone can make it in the world of sport regardless of sex or background.

Cylch leader Angharad Kellie said: “I have to confess I’ve grown up without any real interest in sport, particularly growing up in Pembrokeshire in the 80s and 90s, the only real top female sports stars were American tennis players on the TV.

"And there was female athletes who you would only ever hear about each time the Olympics came along.

"But now you have international female sports stars on your doorstep. Just look at Jasmine from St Davids, playing on the wing for Wales and recently scoring four tries for the Barbarians against the USA. If that doesn’t inspire young girls to get involved in sport nothing will."

Today, research shows that physical activity is vitally important for a child's physical and emotional health and can help their development of self-esteem and self-worth. Even from the ages of 2-4, the age range of pupils at Cylch Meithrin Croesgoch, Angharad believes it’s important to start them young.

“Physical education wasn’t always something that excited me as a child but I didn’t really have anyone to look up to in those terms.

"Musically I had a lot of heroes but not in sport. It has been so inspiring having Jasmine here today, the kids have loved it and most importantly – we’ve all had fun whilst getting fit.”

Sessions like this have become part of the norm at Cylch Meithrin Croesgoch where guests have recently included baking lessons from Mamgu Welsh Cakes in Solva and Rosie Jacobs Designs, who recently showed youngsters how you can have fun making things out of recycling old materials.

Angharad believes that hands on practical experiences are essential to a child’s development: “Of course we sit and read with the kids and there’s always emphasis on learning via traditional methods but you can’t beat local talent coming in to inspire the kids."