Another Darlington Mowden Park player is on the first rung of the ladder to being selected to play rugby for England.

Seventeen year old Ashleigh Wright has just heard that she has been selected for the U18 RFUW England Performance Camp at Loughborough University in July. At Loughborough she will be put through her paces in a challenging weekend packed full of strenuous tasks and exercises to assess and develop skills and stamina.

Those attending Loughborough have all been picked out by the England coaches for their talent and potential to progress further in the world of women's rugby. It's an incredible opportunity for Ashleigh.

Ashleigh said: "I am thrilled to be chosen for the Performance Camp. It is every player's dream to play for their country and this will take me one step closer."

Ashleigh started playing rugby three years ago when Mowden Park first set up a girls' side and she has never looked back.

Selection for the Durham County and North East Regional teams soon followed and she came to the notice of the England selectors at the Regional 12s competition at Lichfield in May. Her next step, after Loughborough, will be to participate in trials for the U19 England squad later in the summer. Ashleigh's selection for the Performance Camp is another accolade for the extraordinary work and success of Morden Park in leading the development of girls' rugby in the North East. Two Mowden girls - Rosie Mangle and Abby Blackburn - are already full members of the U19 England squad and Ashleigh has an excellent chance of joining them next season.

Rugby is an important part of Ashleigh's life which she combines with her other great sporting interest, netball, and demanding studies at Darlington's Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College. At college she is currently in the middle of taking AS levels in PE, History, General Studies, English Literature and Psychology. She eventually hopes to teach History.