365 Sporting Days

During the week I visited Thurrock Rugby Club to find out about changes due to take place in Women’s rugby in England; I have some research to do before I write about what I believe is a very negative  and potentially damaging situation.  Ironically this has coincided with a press release from the Welsh Rugby Union whose plans will very clearly benefit the game for girls and women in Wales.

The Welsh Rugby Union will significantly increase opportunities for women and girls at all levels of the game with three new posts, advertised on wru.wales today.

Three ‘Women and Girls’ Game Changers’, to cover  South East, South West and North Wales, will work with all key members of the WRU rugby department  along with key clubs, schools and school club hub officers to increase the number of women and girls regularly involved in rugby in Wales.

WRU Women and Girls Manager Caroline Spanton said, “We have more than doubled our female playing numbers in a year through the work of the school club hubs and the girls-only, summer cluster centres. However, we know that the potential for further growth is huge and these game changers will be key to unlocking regular participation, continued enjoyment and meaningful success for all. This will be achieved by working with key partners and by creating the right environment to attract and retain involvement.”

WRU Head of Rugby Participation Ryan Jones said, “It is a strategic priority for us as a Union to become more attractive to women and girls and to remove barriers to enable anyone to participate. Our purpose is to enable more people to be involved in rugby more often, with more enjoyment and more success and it is therefore vital to invest in people whose job and sole focus will be to make this a firm reality. We all need to work together with the game changers to ensure we offer various forms of the game and a way of delivering rugby which appeals to women and girls of all ages.”

Details of the new roles – Here