Guest Post: How can we increase awareness of women’s rugby?

Rugby isn’t gender specific, the girls can play just as hard and fast as the boys. So, why isn’t women’s rugby as popular as the men’s game?

Generally, women’s rugby receives much less attention than the men’s sport with less spectators at big matches and even fewer tuning in on the TV. If you’re a rugby fan, chances are you will remember the final game of the Six Nations with Wales stealing the Grand Slam away from England in a vigorous, fast paced and hard hitting game. Maybe you watched it live on the BBC or saw the highlight reels in the news or on ScrumV or perhaps you were lucky enough to be at the Millennium Stadium for the match. However, what you may not have been aware of is that there is also a Women’s Six Nation, who share the same season and have the same national rivalries, but chances are you wouldn’t be able to remember who won in 2012 – Ireland got the Grand Slam and received almost no publicity for it.

The lack of funding is the biggest downfall…

Whereas the men’s rugby is sponsored by huge international corporations and every player in the Premiership, RFU Championship and National Leagues are paid professionals, the women are not. The majority of female rugby players in the UK are amateurs who play simply for the love of sport, rather than using rugby as a career path. Determining why there is a lack of funding is a bit of a “chicken or the egg” situation – are there no sponsors because there is no major coverage, or is there no publicity because of the lack of major sponsors? Despite the international competition there was hardly any mention in any sports pages, either online or in print, while the men get large spreads with lots of pictures. What about TV coverage? Well the Ireland squad had a grand total of one game broadcasted – on Sky Sports 4, with the other British teams not getting much more coverage.

Boost professional to grow grassroots

How does any sport increase their grassroots participation? They improve the attention that their top level sportspeople get. By building awareness you will in turn be building up a fan base and opening the game up for others who wish to participate. There are many ways that this could be done, the easiest being having the top level women’s matches shown at peak times on the BBC or ITV. However, if the viewing figures are low this will not last long so it is important that an audience is built up through local venues. This can be done by having rugby clubs promote more women’s rugby through ‘open days’, rugby minis, fun days and training sessions. These tactics are already carried out by other sports including running, swimming, cycling and tennis, so why hasn’t this been done for rugby?

Eliminate the cost of expensive kit

Rugby Equipment and kit can be very costly which, unfortunately, can put people off playing the game. However, Rugby Clearance offers top quality women’s rugby kit at discount prices, helping to encourage more women to get involved with rugby at grassroots levels. If the awareness of women’s rugby increases then the standard of the game will also increase, with more sponsorship, publicity and better quality women’s rugby kit. If you know someone who wants to start taking part in rugby and are looking for rugby kit then visit Rugby Clearance online today and browse through a fantastic range of women’s rugby kit.

Rugby Clearance provide high level rugby teamwear and equipment at the biggest discount prices.