Let’s hear it for Horsham women and girls!
Coach Steve Driver was intent on having a senior women’s team for younger girls to join once they were 18.
In 2018 a handful of women answered the call of Steve Driver, a coach at Horsham RFC, who was intent on having a senior women’s team for the younger girls to join once they were 18.
Most new recruits were mums of junior players and had never picked up a rugby ball. One was the now Horsham Ladies team manager, Wendy Shepherd, a manager in adult social care whose son Sammy was playing for the U12s.
“One of the other mums whose son played alongside mine persuaded me it would be good for my fitness,” says Wendy.
There were few opportunities to play rugby when I was growing up, so I went along aged 42 to one session and was completely hooked.”
Wendy Shepherd
While Sammy plays centre for the club U14s, Wendy plays flanker for the women’s first XV. “The first time he saw me make a tackle, I heard Sammy shout ‘Go, mum!’ He runs touch for the ladies matches and one of the team’s daughters runs on with the water. The teenagers are very supportive!”
If you build it, they will come
From that original handful of players Horsham have achieved more than 50 registered players, their firsts now playing in National Challenge 2 and their Lionesses 2s in National Challenge 3. Their support from the club extends to sponsorship from Thakeham, one of the South East’s leading developers, who also support the men’s first XV.
The expansion of both girls’ and women’s rugby at the West Sussex club has not happened by accident. There are approaching a hundred younger girls playing after the club originally linked with nearby Horsham and Burgess Hill to get combined training and went into local schools to get growing numbers. The burgeoning women’s squad has progressed from encouraging friends along to recruiting via Instagram and Facebook, concentrating on telling interesting stories.
“Once you start, it will build but you have to keep it up and work really hard to keep the players you’ve recruited and get more,” says Wendy. “With the ladies’ squad we spent nine months developing skills before playing matches. Then came the pandemic with all the extra challenges. To keep people engaged we did everything we could. One player who’s a personal trainer did zoom sessions, we had quizzes, charity challenges, like fundraising for the local foodbank by running distances, and even had virtual pub crawls with pictures outside local pubs which were all closed!
“It was great to see our first Horsham-grown senior player when Imogen Dold joined the ladies’ team, and we now have another seven or eight 18-year-olds, playing alongside a group of older players, our oldest being over 50.
“We are proof that rugby is a game for all – whatever your size, background, level of play and certainly whatever your age.”
