Formed 2004 ... Herts 7s U14 Runners-up 2005 ... North Herts U14 team, Herts Youth Games 2005 runners-up (coached by Letchworth)... Herts Superteams U14 Runners-up 2005 ... Herts SuperTeams "Fairplay" winners 2006 ... Rochford 10s U17 Champions 2006 ... East Midlands 10s U17 Runners-up 2007 ... East Midlands 10s U17 "Fairplay" winners 2007 ... National 10s U17 5th place and "Fairplay" winners 2007 ... Herts 7s U17 Plate runners-up 2007 ... National 7s U17 Plate winners 2007 ... RFU "President's XV" Award winners 2007 ... Herts Superteams winners 2007 ... Midlands 10s U18 Runners-up 2008 ... National 10s U18 4th place 2008 ... North Herts U11 team, Herts Youth Games 2008 runners-up (coached by Letchworth girls) ... London and SE 7s U18 Plate runners-up 2008 ... Herts 7s U18s runners-up 2008 ... National 7s U18s quarter-finalists 2008 ... Gloucester City 10s U18 Bowl runner-up (6th) 2009 ... Worthing 10s U18 Plate runner-up 2009 ... National 7s U18 Plate winners 2009... Worthing 10s U15 Plate winners 2010... Worthing 10s U18 Shield winners 2010... Herts 7s U15 and U18 Bowl runners-up 2010... National 7s U18 Plate runners-up 2010...

Saturday, November 22, 2008

The changing face of English girls' rugby (update)

Further to the article last month, the RFUW have now issued an updated club list which includes several additionally teams - some of which are genuinely new, some just a bit slow with the paperwork. Clubs registered on the new list (which is not, unfortunately, dated) who were not there in October list are listed below. Clubs that are "new" (ie. did not appear on the 2006/7 list) are in bold:
  • Beaconsfield Belles (Bucks)
  • Bournemouth (Dorset)
  • Cinderford (Gloucestershire)
  • Crawley (Sussex)
  • Darlington Mowden Park (Durham)
  • Daventry  (Northants) - (U18 only)
  • Durham City (Durham)
  • East Grinstead (Sussex)
  • Frome (Somerset) - (U15 only)
  • Liskeard & Looe (Cornwall)
  • Malton & Norton (N Yorks) - (U15 only)
  • Old Northamptonians (Northants)
  • Tamworth Wildcats (Warwicks) - (U18 only)
  • Wallingford Maidens (Oxon) - (U15 only)
  • Rockcliff (Northumberland)
  • Winchester (Hants)
  • Witney (Oxon)
So, to revise the numbers from the previous article, that means that (if my maths is right...) we now have:
  • 130 girls clubs (119 offering U15 rugby, 114 providing U18 rugby) - up from 118 in 2006/7
  • 75 clubs from 2006/7 list also appear on the 2008/9 list
  • 43 registered clubs from 2006/7 are no longer listed
  • 55 clubs are "new"
There are about 100 "viable" teams in each age band - ie. capable of fielding a team of at least seven on their own:
  • 93 Category A teams (48 U15s, 45 U18s)
  • 89 Category B teams (47 U15s, 42 U18s)
  • In addition 51 "Category C teams" - ie. teams that would have to combine with another club to field a team.
Its a slightly improved picture compared with a month ago - and there are still a few clubs missing yet (*cough* Swaffham *cough*). However overall losing a third of a sport's registered clubs in two years must be a bit of worry. This is more than balanced by new teams, but think how strong the game would be if this hemorrhaging of volunteers, players, and experience was even just halved - surely its cheaper to maintain an existing club than it is to build new one? We'd then have a game genuinely and rapidly expanding rather than (more or less) staying where it is.

(The U15 and U18 maps on Google Maps have also been updated).

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous11:36 PM

    mmmmm......ADMIN issue I believe. Similar to the year it took to get some certificates from said organisation maybe

    spike

    ReplyDelete

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