HOW TO START A GIRLS’ TEAM
OF THE 400-plus clubs that have women’s and girls’ teams in England, I wonder how many originated in an ultrasound room? “It’s a girl!” My jaw drops to the floor whilst my partner asks the sonographer to check again, just to make sure. I don’t know what I was expecting, but as I sit in silence my brain begins to clatter with dreams and hopes for my soon-to-be-born baby girl.
Being selfish, I had always envisaged coaching my child’s rugby team; a girl, however, makes things slightly more difficult. Bridport RFC, my club in west Dorset, has a first team, a social XV and a thriving junior section… but nothing for women and girls.
We’ve had many talented girls begin their rugby careers at Bridport, but without the provisions for women’s and girls’ teams, they finish playing mixed junior rugby at the age of 12 and either stop playing the sport or move to a nearby club with junior girls’ teams.
Only five years ago we lost
