The new Charlotte Caslick Cup in sevens honours a rugby performer very much in her prime unlike the trophy named after William Webb Ellis.
Normally, you have to be dead or silver-thatched to have any sort of sporting trophy named after you a la the Englishman, whose name was enshrined in the Rugby World Cup more than a hundred years after his passing.
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It’s a measure of all Caslick has achieved at just 27 that a new sevens competition in Queensland will be played for a trophy struck in her honour.
The Charlotte Caslick Cup will be played for across three tournaments by Queensland Premier Sevens women’s club teams and regional sides in October-November.
As a series, it formally links the Gold Coast Sevens at Bond University (October 22-23 ), the Bris Vegas Sevens at Wests Rugby Club (November 5-6) and Queensland Sevens State Championships at Noosa Rugby Club (November 12-13).
“It’s pretty cool to have a trophy named after you. It is early in my career so it’s not something I expected. I’m definitely humbled,” Caslick said.
“I love sevens and grassroots rugby so I’m happy to support a great initiative from Queensland Rugby that can only help the Aussie Sevens program which has already benefitted from so many Queensland players coming through.”
Reg Tayler, the Queensland Academy of Sport Sevens head coach, applauded the new initiative giving extra structure to the Queensland sevens circuit.
“The Charlotte Caslick Cup will help us identify players to bring into the QAS system and ultimately build on Queensland’s reputation as a hot bed of talent for the Australian women’s sevens side,” Tayler said.
Caslick, Lily Dick, Dom du Toit, Demi Hayes, Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea and the Levi sisters, Maddi and Teagan, all had support under the QAS banner this year.
All were core members of the Aussie sevens outfit which put together a stellar sweep of the HSBS World Rugby Sevens Series crown, the Commonwealth Games gold medal and the Rugby World Cup Sevens title.
Caslick is revelling in some down time but knows that things will crank up soon enough when training for next season begins on October 10.
Australian sevens coach Tim Walsh will certainly have eyes on invigorating the training squad. Emerging Queensland players like Isabella Nasser and Kahli Henwood may well come into the reckoning for spots.
Caslick said there would be no cause for complacency after this year’s achievements because the whole squad knew where motivation would lie.
“We had an amazing year but there was no Olympic gold medal. Everything we do will be building towards Paris in 2024,” the 2016 Rio Olympics gold medallist said today.
“What happened at the Tokyo Olympics last year (when beaten in the quarter-finals) hangs over heads a bit. A lot of our young girls definitely learnt a lot from that because it showed how hard they had to work for this year’s achievements.
“There is still so much improvement possible in our team.
“Someone like Maddi Levi finds space so naturally. That’s something you can’t teach. She’s only at the start of what she can offer the team.
“Madi Ashby is a really well-rounded footballer. She just gets better and better.”
Caslick is looking forward to the chance to play a major tournament in front of Australian fans again with the Sydney Sevens scheduled for January 27-29.
In the men’s division at the State Championships, Queensland’s top club sides and regional teams from Sunshine Coast, Darling Downs and Townsville will compete for Chucky Stannard Cup.
It is named after former Aussie Sevens captain James Stannard.
