Since the middle of august the Stade Ladies are preparing for the upcoming season of the Austrian Women’s championship starting at the 5th of October in Klagenfurt. We joined a training session and spoke to head coach Fabian Weidinger and captain Kaja.

Hi Fabian! You go into your second season as a rugby coach of the Stade Ladies. Is there anything new in the coaching team?

-Yes, we got some some new experts in our team. Heinrich Kastelic will be cocoaching. Heinrich has a lot of knowledge about scrums and lineouts and will help us to step up the game. Moreover, Laura Gärtner, who is a real Spartan race warrior, will support the team with her knowledge about strength and conditioning.

Kaja, what are the challenges for next season?

-Kaja: There are several challenges. We want to integrate our U18 players into the team. Last year we were lucky with a low number of injuries, but this can be a challenge as well. Last but now least we want to be a part of the title race again and take the trophy home.
Fabian, how is the team and what are the plans?

-Fabian: Fortunately, we a constantly growing which makes me extremely proud. More players in training mean a challenge to provide a good training session to everyone. I still see us in a development process. Last season was very successful. We stepped up our game. Nevertheless, there are many aspects to work on. We want to integrate the new players and implement our new system

Kaja, what are you proud of in the current team?

-Kaja: I think we are a very open team to new players and can integrate them very well. The players are improving fast and are very motivated. I am super proud of winning the title last year and how we improved all together.
Fabian, what is your goal for the season as a coach?

-Fabian: My goal is to integrate our new players and level up the team. We want to play great sevens rugby. Our vision is to be fast, athletic and to play with a lot of creativity. That means we must step up our attacking and defence game as well as our skill set. There will be some tough challenges ahead of us, but I look forward to it, because that proves the character of a team.

Kaja, what are you looking forward to this season?

-Kaja: To spend time together with the team and enjoy the team spirit. I also look forward to the sessions with our coaches and improving our skills.