Share your tips and tricks for getting your daughters involved in Rugby - £200 voucher to be won

[geemumsnet]

Have you ever considered introducing your daughter to rugby? Whether it's finding the right club, tackling stereotypes, or boosting confidence on the field, we want you to share your tips and tricks for encouraging your daughters to get more involved. Additionally, how do you think we can make the sport more inclusive? Share your thoughts!

Share your tips and tricks below for encouraging your daughters to get involved in rugby and your thoughts on how we can make Rugby more inclusive.

One lucky MNer will win a £200 voucher for a store of their choice!

Here is what England Rugby has to say:

“The girls’ game is growing fast. The success of England’s Red Roses has increased the visibility of the game and when England hosts the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2025, there will be even more of a spotlight on women and girls in the sport.
Research from Women in Sport found that young girls are surrounded by expectations and stereotypes that negatively affect how they view and experience sport. By the time they are teenagers, many girls have decided that they do not ‘belong’ in sport.
England Rugby are tackling this head on and have launched the Love Rugby initiative to support girls to see and feel that rugby is a place where they can thrive.
There are so many benefits associated with playing rugby for both boys and girls; the sport really is for everyone.

To find your local rugby club or more information about age grade rugby, visit Find Rugby or the England Rugby website.

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

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Yes to a change with committee members and misogyny. You can't control what parents say but people representing the club should have proper training.

We were at the club awards fun day last week and a game of touch was being played between youths and coaches / parents, on the side lines and several other club officials in their club gear were commenting on the girls playing, mocking their hair, false eye lashes and make up, the girls were getting changed afterwards for the award section so some had a bit more on than normal. Whilst this was being said lots of the girls who weren't playing touch were milling around within ear shot. It's not ok, obviously if it was false nails and a safety issue they shouldn't wear them but isn't the fact the girls are there and taking part enough, in every weather and often covered head to toe in mud just like the boys. Senior club officials should be more aware of what they say, it wouldn't be ok at school for a teacher to do so it's not ok in youth sport.

Then during the awards each team coach gave a speech and normally the girls coaches are fantastic but almost without fail there were some hidden disparaging remarks that you wouldn't get about the boys about cattiness, the figurative filing down of nails as the girls had had a rough start with another team when they were first clustered. It was meant to be funny but after a fantastic season where they won their county age group it was entirely unnecessary.

So I think a bit more awareness amongst these 'old school' club members should be brought in. Along with banning the sale of alcohol and smoking / vaping during youth tournaments.

Finding a club that suits her. Try a couple of clubs if you don't feel like the first is a good fit

Living in Wales, I see plenty of families is the stands for national games and I think thats key to building an emotional attachment to the game. Being there for the exciting moments.

However, I don't feel like inclusivity needs to be pushed for everything. They either like something or they don't.

Both my DDs enjoyed her 6 weeks of school rugby in Y7. We have a thriving rugby club in town where their brother plays, which doesn’t have a single girls/ladies team. If DDs wanted to try playing rugby I would have to take her to the town 20 minutes away. That’s the barrier for us, local clubs need to embrace it.

Both my DDs play rugby and love it both started at 15/16 after we’d been to watch a couple of marchers no 22 and 23 both play still.

Start young. Mine all played in a mixed team from 4 until they switched to girls at 12-ish, then went on to play for the women's team and have continued to play.

DDs club doesn’t have enough in her age range to form a team so they are working with two / three other clubs to form a team with girls from all the clubs. It’s building with each year so they are training together more and competing more.

They’ve arranged a couple of fitness / technique sessions with a previous female club player who now plays for England - a fantastic opportunity for them.

We also have some lovely coaches, really encouraging and both male and female.

More opportunities to compete and to go into schools to promote the sport, DD has got into it from watching her older brother play rather than from playing it at school. School sessions are restricted to half term playing tag rugby.

The world has changed since I was at school, with netball and hockey the only options for girls - I would make sure that I was not encouraging rugby for the right reasons - take her to a match, show her the camaraderie of females being strong in sport - tell her she CAN do ANYTHING, try to encourage other girl moms to participate in this sport. The rugby world is such a family environment - and if you want to make it more feminine - buy pink boots

My daughter is 6 and has been playing since she was 18 months with a local kids' class. Now she's in the top group, she's starting to play 'matches' (kids v parents) and the thing that worries her is the risk of being hurt, as there are lots of bigger boys in the group who can get quite full on. The coach is pretty on it and will often get her to start off so she at least has some ball time, but I don't know how she'll do going forward. I agree coaches and other adults involved need to be very mindful of their approach and sessions need to cater to physical differences - especially as it's not unusual for there to be massive height/weight differences between even kids of the same sex at ages 5 to 8!

Find your local club that actively encourages girls, particularly when they move to age grading it really helps to have a club openly supporting girls and encouraging them to have fun. So many clubs still treat the girls teams as second best so finding one that values its womens and girls teams helps make it a much more enjoyable experience and stops girls dropping out.

It’s a great game, and it’s been a character boosting experience for my daughter who now plays in her University first team. If you can volunteer at the club, do. If people articulate concern over potential injury then point out that, for example, horse riding can also be risky and no one says girls shouldn’t do that, and finally if you can find a rugby club where there is a coach who is absolutely passionate about the girls/women’s game AND is prepared to stand up for it in the wider club (where there might be less enthusiasm) then you’ll really have a great experience. Do it!

The RFU should invest more in the Rugby Development Officers who used to provide a great link between schools and clubs.

Now there are far fewer of them and they have to cover such a vast area they struggle to build relationships and do the ground work, visiting schools etc. Many children, girls in particular, miss out through rugby not being played at school.

A special event for girls only was advertised in what I now know is our local rugby club. Was promoted in my daughter’s Guides group and she wanted to give it a try. I know nothing about rugby and neither does my husband so not something we would have ever thought of signing her up for.

She has thoroughly enjoyed the sessions so far, and has met some lovely girls there. Coaches are brilliant, really encouraging and making it both fun and competitive. Think it helps the head coach has teenage daughters who play. Would love for my daughter to join up once the free sessions end, a really good opportunity to try a new sport and make new friends.

I have a rugby mad teenage girl. It would have been much easier to fulfil her wish to get involved if schools offered the game more widely. As it is, I had to contact local clubs and get her in that way. She finds it really dispiriting that her large comprehensive (which happens to have a good level of interest from girls) just doesn't prioritise the girls' game eg. frequently cancelling training, not bothering to arrange fixtures etc. It's a real shame.

A family member has a DD playing rugby at county level, so we have a great role model right there! She's willowy but strong so debunks any concerns about needing to be bulky. She wasn't always strong though, that has come with the sport.
She's made lifelong friends in her club, and so have her parents. It's a wonderful sport for camaraderie and belonging.
This young relative only tried it because her DB was doing rugby (he's since stopped) but she loved it.

Having female coaches would be a great start.
My daughter loves rugby having started with tag at aged 8, now 18.

But she would dearly love to have female coaches and managers.

One of the ladies first team joined DD’s coaching team midway through the last season as the difference she has made to their confidence is incredible.

We are so lucky in my little town, we have 2 rugby clubs and both have girls teams. One starts them at the age of 3 😁 so it's completely normalised here.
The only thing that concerns me (as much with boys as girls) is the concussion risk, so the rule here is no head protection, no gumshield, no game!
Making rugby family friendly with lots of all age events also helps.

I would say to check your local towns social media groups to request or find out when the current matches are and go and watch a match with your daughter. If she enjoys it then you can enquire to how she can get more involved.

As others have said, it needs to start at schools. The more sports that are offered/tried at school,the more chance your child will find the sport that they enjoy. To encourage girls to continue though, female sports need to stay exclusive to females.

Mine has just played her season of mixed rugby, now moving onto the Girls Club.

A few things that have kept her going this season...
-She was allowed to train with the Girls teams, although too young to play with them.

• Another local club put on a Girls U11s Pitch Up and Play tournament
• the Girls team has a very strong social media presence

In addition, when things got a bit ropey for the Girls team last year and they needed an extra coach... DH volunteered, eve though it was a year early. But it means the U12s team is there this coming season for DD to move into.

The club has only had a Girls sections for a few years... but they are celebrating as they have a full Colts team for the upcoming season.

Watch and explain the rules of rugby, take them to a game, tell her girls can do ANYTHING, ask around for an all girls club and ask other mums permission if you want to involve your daughters friends - she is more likely to go if she has her friends with her.

My dd started with football but switched, her school played! Adult now and playing at level below pro.

I think things ARE changing but still have a long way to go - but we ARE getting there. Speak to club members if you are interested in letting your DD join, go to matches on your own - just to see how the club is run, how friendly the parents are, and you will get a feel as to whether your DD will like and fit in.

I've thought about it and I think that rugby is a sport more girls will get involved with over the next few years. There's a mini rugby club just for girls near where I live and I'm encouraging my daughter to join it in September as I think it would be great for her confidence.