Premiership rugby given grant to increase number of women in the sport

A little under a month after England won the women’s Rugby World Cup, an initiative has been launched with the aim of capitalising on that achievement and increasing the number of women and girls who play the sport in this country.

A £600,000 grant has been made available to Premiership Rugby from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which the top-flight clubs will be expected to use will be used by top-flight clubs across certain programmes, including the recruitment and training of 480 female teachers and volunteers to support the growth of girls’ rugby and providing 7,200 secondary schoolgirls with rugby classes in and out of school.

“We saw at the women’s World Cup how rugby can create role models that the country can be proud of,” said the Premiership Rugby chief executive Mark McCafferty.

“We have a hugely diverse community programme that is race and gender blind but this would be the first time that Premiership Rugby will deliver a programme specifically designed to increase participation within these two target groups.”

Premiership rugby given grant to increase number of women in the sport