Gia Ribaudo is a Grade 1 player from Langebaan and is the only girl that plays rugby in her school.
Gia has played full contact rugby with the Grade 1’s since Grade R. She is apparently great on defence, often silencing her critics on and off the pitch with big tackles, as well as being a fast runner on attack.
She plays hard for her teammates and is as good as the boys and holds her own.
Rugby for Gia started when someone said to her she could not play rugby because she was a girl. She has been brought up in a home that encourages challenging the status quo and believing in becoming whatever you put your mind to and work hard for.
Dad Michael Ribaudo thanks the school for their supportive and inclusive environment that has been “instrumental to allowing this young headstrong lady to do what she loves more than anything, and that’s to play rugby”.
We don’t know what the future holds or how long she will continue playing but right now she will continue to turn heads and inspire young girls to be whatever they want to be, Michael says.
