Two junior rugby superstars have returned from playing in the Under 13s Girls Rugby 7s State Championships, hosted in Mudgee in the first week of October.

Ella Parker and Zoe Maynard were selected to play in the Central West and Gordon squads respectively and have shared their experiences of the competition.

It was a facebook ad that led Ella to get involved in the rugby 7s competition, her coaches and parents encouraging her to try out for the central west team with success.

Zoe was selected for the Gordon squad after moving to Sydney at the start of the year to go to high school.

There she's a player for Lindfield Rugby Club, and joined many of her teammates in trialling for the Gordon side.

"I wanted to try out for Gordon because I thought that it would be a great opportunity to make some new friends through rugby, and I wanted to challenge myself and see how much I could improve on the field," Zoe said.

For both Ella and Zoe this was the first time they have taken part in the Rugby 7's State Championships.

While this may have been Ella's first time playing in a representative competition, she has played rugby for the Canowindra Junior Pythons for the last three years.

Ella said her time playing for the Central West squad in the Rugby 7s Championships was a great experience.

"It was interesting and I had a lot of fun," she said.

Zoe said the competition was really exciting but also super tough.

"It was so much fun playing against teams from all over NSW, and the atmosphere was amazing," Zoe said.

While this may have been Zoe's first Rugby 7's State Championship, it's not her first state championship and it all began with the Canowindra Pythons Under 10s.

"During this year I played XV’s for Lindfield Rugby Club, Rugby 7’s for my school and also represented Gordon at the XV’s Rugby State Championships in June," Zoe said.

Zoe said the Rugby 7's competition was a big step up from local rugby.

"The Rugby 7s games are faster and more intense, the level of footy in Mudgee at the State Championships was awesome," she said.

For Ella, the Rugby 7s proved to be a lot faster than the regular 15-a-side game format.

During the Rugby 7s competition, Ella said they played some really good teams, but they won a few games and came 7th out of 15 altogether.

Zoe said some of the highlights from the event were making new friends from Gordon Rugby Club and other clubs that were at the Championships, getting a try in the last game of the competition and just getting to play footy all weekend.

Zoe will now look forward to having a break over the summer to do some other sports then will head back into Lindfield Club Rugby training in February 2026.

For Ella, she is looking forward to playing club rugby with the Canowindra Pythons again next year.