Super Sophie of Dartford Valley
Sophie Warren first got involved with Dartford Valley RFC as part of her university sports therapy course, but now finds herself as the club's chair.
An insurance broker by trade, she decided she wanted to do something different at the weekend and wanted to learn something new, which led her down the path of sports therapy.
To complete the course, Sophie required 200 hours of experience and fortunately found an opportunity to fulfil that requirement thanks to a suggestion from her uncle.
She said: “I didn’t know how I was going to do it but my uncle was involved in the club and he said ‘our men’s team needs some help with taping up and getting them back on the field so will you come along?’
“I thought ‘great, I can do my 200 hours’ and then the next thing you know I never left and am now the chair!”
As part of her role, her weekends are full of commitments to the club across all levels. On Fridays she tries to attend any FNL game at the club as well as attending the men’s games on Saturdays, where she sometimes doubles up as pitchside first aid. On Sundays she often uses her first aid skills for the women’s team during their matches, or will attend the youth academy training to touch base with volunteers, parents and players or assist with any issues.
When starting her role as chair, Sophie felt some concern that there may be backlash at her appointment, but has in fact found the opposite to be the case.
She said: “I have received so much support from the club and there was never anyone that said ‘why are we having a female chair? What are you doing?’ Everyone was like, ‘this is amazing.’
“We were one of the first in the area to have one and that was a real concern of mine because it's such a male dominated role.
“I was thinking ‘oh my god, we’re going to have a backlash and people aren’t going to like it’, but the players, the parents, the members, the executive committee have just been amazing and I wouldn’t still be here without them.”
Sophie sees this as an opportunity to both grow the game and change it in a positive way by increasing female representation in leadership roles throughout community sport.
The importance of this is not lost on her and she recognises that bettering representation can help to inspire the next generation of girls coming through.
She explained: “If we don’t put ourselves in that situation then it’s never going to change. If you’ve got the right skillset and the right people around you, anyone can do it. Don’t be intimidated by it.”
With this week international leadership week, Sophie’s role at the club is testament to her leadership qualities and director of club development Luke Stickings said it has been a no-brainer.
He explained: “We had the traditional set up of male-dominated positions of authority in the club and we very much knew that we had young talented girls and women coming through the club but we didn't have anyone in top management roles that were female.
“There was the general feeling that we had to get more females, because you can’t be what you can’t see.
“Sophie was our ideal candidate as a young, professional, proactive, positive person that pretty much lights up the room wherever she goes.
“It was a no-brainer from the perspective of qualities and characteristics, it was just whether she wanted to do it. She took it on and really has just flown in the last few years and become the true leader of our club.”
