I was only there to meet Fiona Coughlan.
Ok. That may be a slight exaggeration, but at the start, it was a major highlight. However, when I came away from the Women’s Rugby Conference I felt inspired, positive and encouraged that we can progress women’s rugby in Ulster, not just in terms of success and participation, but also attitudes and stereotypes. It was also a great feeling to know there are others as dedicated to the success of women’s rugby as I am and (shock horror!) they aren’t all women!
During the discussions and workshops, it became clear that we were all working towards a common goal and are willing to do as much as we can as a Province to encourage the growth of rugby in each individual club. The number of attendees alone made a statement about how far we have come in terms of development in a short space of time.
I found it interesting and encouraging that other clubs are facing the same difficulties as my own (and also some different ones) and being given the opportunity to discuss with other clubs what worked, what didn’t and how they overcame barriers that we are currently facing was incredibly useful. The event also allowed mass feedback and provision of ideas to the Ulster Branch and I think it enhanced the feeling of a ‘rugby community’ as opposed to a number of individual rugby clubs.
The day began with introductions, swiftly followed by a talk from Nora Stapleton - current IRFU Women’s Development Executive and Ireland outhalf, a quick workshop and discussion on what we felt went well and badly last season, a keynote speech from Irish Grand Slam winning captain Fiona Coughlan, lunch, then a talk from BBC’s Sara Orchard. The day ended with an interesting task of designing a strategy for 10 years in the future. What I found interesting is that each group had the same result - Ireland wining the World Cup, Ulster Women winning a newly-invented women’s European Cup and an inclusive discussion regarding methods to increase all-round female participation in rugby, not just on the pitch.
Nora and Fiona both talked at length about volunteers in the women’s game - the importance of finding the right people, their dedication to their clubs and how they would never have become the successes they are without them. Nora mentioned that she left rugby for several years, as when she progressed through the mini section, there was no girls team for her to join, so she played other sports and only returned to rugby by chance at university. This is undoubtedly happening all over the Province and rugby is losing bright new stars to GAA or hockey. However, during the first workshop it was widely acknowledged that the success of the Irish Women’s squad last season had successfully impacted on the popularity and awareness of women’s rugby and the rise of participation levels.
Through group and individual discussions, we discovered major issues in most clubs seem to be recruitment of adult and youth players, with girls moving away to university and family/work commitments. These can be combatted by having a new wave of players fed through each season from a youth teams, ensuring consistent quality and dedicated players. The tradition of women playing on a Sunday was also mentioned by a number of clubs and most people were in agreement that increased flexibility around fixtures (in terms of timing and geographical distance) would benefit participation in the senior game.
It was decided that the main things that have been most successful in the past season were the expansion of female rugby (more youth and development teams), the fantastic work of the Female Rugby Officers, restructuring of the leagues, more women on club management committees and the success of the Ireland Women’s squad.
Sara Orchard from the BBC also spoke and for me this was a very important element of the day. Sara is currently the only female rugby commentator within the BBC and also a qualified and experienced referee. Sara spoke about her career and the challenges of gaining credibility as a female in a male-dominated environment and it gave the positive message that there is also a place for those who may not be as skilled on the pitch but still want to be involved in rugby. I was very interested to learn that more people watched England v Ireland women than the English Premiership final between Leicester and Northampton on the BBC!
The ultimate message I took away from the day was something I already had an inkling of - in order to guarantee the future success of women’s rugby in Ulster, we have to nurture and develop the mini and youth sections - something the Female Rugby Officers are currently doing an amazing job at. They have been going into schools and getting girls involved, resulting in this season’s Girls Schools’ Cup being the largest yet. I also realised how important volunteers are to the game, ranging from coaches, referees, parents of youth and club members. Currently, funding is incredibly tight within Ulster and the majority of the progress is controlled by the unpaid contributors, but the recent growth has shown how dedicated most volunteers are and how much they give to their clubs, Province and country.
In order to progress players of both skill and experience in terms of provincial and international representation, we need to have girls playing regularly from a young age to allow our senior teams to have a constant stream of new talent. The majority of clubs with youth teams said that they needed more matches, more regularly - therefore experience and skills of their players.
Overall, I think the conference was a successful learning curve for both the Ulster Branch and clubs and allowed the former to take feedback from clubs in an informal manner. It proved that most clubs are facing the same issues and getting together to discuss ideas really promoted an inclusive atmosphere. This would be an ideal annual end of season event, to allow clubs to form strategies for the following season.