WHEN Bonnie Brewer is tearing around the rugby field with her ponytail hidden in her headgear, her opponents assume she is just another one of the boys.

But when the final whistle sounds and the 11-year-old removes her headgear to shake hands, it’s hard to disguise her long, curly blond hair.

Some boys laugh and gossip about her, others are dumbfounded and some even refuse to shake her hand.

“I just ignore them because they don’t mean anything to me,” she said.

“Only some of them are like that. Most of the boys are fine. When I get the ball in my hand it is just like magic. It makes me so happy.”

Bonnie is the captain and halfback of the under-11s Batemans Bay Boars Division 2 rugby union side, as well as the under-12s regional representative halfback.

But despite her passion to one day play for the national women’s team, the Wallaroos, her gender is about to become a big problem.

media_camera Bonnie Brewer is the captain of her under-11s rugby union team but won’t be able to play with her male teammates next season. Picture: Simon Bullard

media_camera Bonnie in action on the rugby field, where she says many people don’t even realise she’s a girl until she takes her helmet off. Picture: Simon Bullard

After she finishes in the under-12s competition next year, Bonnie has to play with girls only.

But as there is no under-14s team and she is too small for the under-15s, her rugby career is set to stall.

Bonnie has even tried to recruit other girls to play through her other love — ballet.

It is not uncommon to see Bonnie rock up to training wearing her pink leotard underneath her rugby gear so she can dash from the rugby pitch to ballerina practice.

Her rugby coach and club president Ronnie Collier has even moved games to an earlier timeslot so his captain can play the game and then make it to her ballet dress rehearsals.

But it seems most of her fellow ballerinas don’t share her love for rugby. Her only alternative is to play 150km away in Canberra — an option her family is still considering.

“There are not many girls who are interested, but I want to inspire anyone to join up because it is a great sport,” Bonnie said.

Asked about her prospects for future success, Mr Collier keeps it simple.

“She can go as far as she wants to go and so we are doing everything we can to keep her in rugby,” he said.

Originally published as Rugby tween too old to play in boys’ team