AYLESBURY RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB

We now have 100 girls in the minis and youth sections at Aylesbury RFC for first time ever!

This is a great milestone to have hit but I expect these numbers to keep growing.

A massive thanks to all of the coaches and other volunteers that make this possible. It’s all your hard work that has helped us get here.

If you know a girl not involved in rugby, why not? They can be.

21 Jan 26

#rugbygirls #proud #thisgirlcan #rugby #girlsrugby #keepongrowing

Our Club

Aylesbury Rugby Football Club has Community Amateur Sports Club status and is affiliated to Bucks RFU and the RFU.  Founded in 1931 we have over 650 players aged from 5 to 68 (our Club secretary digs out his boots whenever the Vets are short on numbers!).  Currently we have 111 female players registered to the Club across our Mini, Junior and Senior Women’s squads representing just 17% of our player cohort.  With outstanding Club facilities, we have a large social membership and provide a welcoming venue for many other sporting and community events throughout the year.  However, our focus is Rugby: encouraging all to play, developing players skills, and ensuring the ethos of Rugby, especially teamwork and enjoyment, are promoted at every level within the Club.  In early 2019 we had strong girl’s squads at U14, U16 and U18 but no senior women’s team.  We undertook to seek a dedicated coach that would establish women’s senior Rugby at our Club to provide an avenue for girls to transition from Junior to Senior Rugby.  Our women’s senior section was formed and played from season 2019/2020.   We have progressed very well, our women’s team gaining promotion to NC2 and with sufficient women players to field a second XV entering the “Inner Warrier” league in season 2025/26.  Our female Rugby at Junior level is thriving with strong U12, U14, U16 and U18 Age Groups.  We are very proud of what we have achieved but believe we can go much further in promoting female Rugby at Aylesbury helping more to get into Rugby and igniting in them a lifelong passion and involvement in Rugby.  

Our Vision

1. Increase player numbers to 800 by 2027, with a 25 % minimum of female players in that total.
2. Increase female Volunteer support to female Rugby (coaching, Age Group / Team Management, First Aid, Fixtures Secretary) from the current level of 23% to over 40% by 2027.
3. From Grassroots to Greatness: become a recognised regional Centre of Excellent for Female Ruby, and feeder club for Saracens Women and Loughborough Lightning academies.
4. Increase Club support for our senior female teams to over 100 at each home fixture.
5. Ignite a lifelong passion and provide clear avenues for female involvement in our Sport after retirement from playing (Coaching, Team Management, Refereeing, Communications, Social Lead, Club Administration etc)

Helena Rowland, a player who started her career at Aylesbury Rugby Football Club Minis, has just been selected as part of the England squad for the upcoming Women’s World Cup!

Barriers to Entry

In May 2019 our Executive Committee held a specific meeting to discuss how we could increase female participation at the Club.  A strategy was devised and, more importantly, resources were allocated to implement our strategy.  Back then only 7% of our players were female and we set an ambitious target to increase that proportion to15% by 2024, last season we had achieved 17% female players registered in the Club.  Additionally, we have instigated an annual survey of all female members of the Club to solicit ideas on how we can make Rugby a more attractive sport for females.  The barriers identified below are distilled from the surveys carried out over the past two seasons.  Some actions have already been taken to address and overcome barriers; other actions require further finance to be implemented.

1. The widespread misconception that Rugby is a white, upper-class game with a hypermasculine culture.
2. Lack of female coaching staff.
3. Lack of female physio staff to support our female players.
4. Lack of dedicated facilities for female players.
5. Scarce female representation at Club and Constituent Body levels; a voice for females needed!
6. Insufficient structures around competitions / leagues for junior and senior women’s teams.
7. Cultural sensitivities around mixed and contact sports.
8. The misconception that Rugby is a violent and dangerous sport.

Our Initiatives to Increase and Enhance Female Participation in Rugby at Aylesbury

1. Engender a “One Club Approach” where female Rugby is on an equal footing with Male Rugby.
2. Dedicated Female Gym sessions each week.
3. Dedicated Female Strength and Conditioning sessions each week.
4. Dedicated Female Training sessions each Wednesday evening for both our female Junior and Senior Squads.
5. Dedicated Female Physios attendance at women’s matches and Wednesday evening female training sessions.
6. Extending Schools outreach, at both Primary and Secondary level, in conjunction with the Insignis Academy Trust, to encourage girls to take up Rugby.
7. Establish a mentorship program to support girls transitioning from Mini to Junior Girl’s Rugby, and Junior Girl’s Rugby to senior women’s Rugby.
8. Increase female involvement in Junior and Senior Female squads including senior women players coaching junior girls (once necessary qualifications and certification have been achieved).
9. Encourage wider membership support of our female teams at home matches.
10. Ensure our Club’s Social Program is appealing to our female membership.
11. Annual Neurodiversity training for all Coaches / Age Group Managers.
12. Girls Activity Days, in conjunction with the RFU, aimed at introducing Rugby to girls aged 6 – 12 in a fun and creative way.

Promoting Inclusivity and Wider Community Impact

1. Neurodiverse conditions impact 15 to 20% of our youth. An understanding of these conditions, and a tailored coaching approach supports the inclusion of neurodivergent players in Rugby.  We have initiated Neurodiversity training within the Club and mandated this for all involved with Mini and Junior Rugby, either as a coach, Agre Group Manager or Administrator.  Our groundbreaking approach to neurodiversity has been adopted as “best practise” by the RFU.
2. For several years we have hosted a “Summer Touch” tournament each Friday evening over the summer months. This summer we have attracted over 20 teams, each of which requires 3 female players to participate.  This initiative has seen many touch players join our women’s squad for pre-season training and participation in the full 15 a side game.
3. In conjunction with Sport England and The National Lottery we had held dedicated women only “Inner Warrior” and “This Girl Can” fitness and conditioning sessions open to all in the community. These initiatives have led to a marked increased female participation in senior women’s Rugby.
4. Our Club is proud to host annually the Eid Prayers and Celebrations for our large Muslim community after the Holy month of Ramadan.  We have held “An Introduction to Rugby” sessions at this event for both boys and girls and provided information to parents on the ethos of Rugby to overcome cultural and religious sensitivities around mixed sport.
5. We are honoured to host the Next Phase Academy at our Club established to provide sporting and academic qualifications for 16 – 19-year-olds who struggle with mainstream education and are under Alternative Provision or assessed as Special Educational Needs. This Academy attracts students across secondary schools in Aylesbury Vale offering a BTEC Level 3 National Diploma in Sport, providing a much-needed facility for the wider community.    

How Aylesbury Rugby Football Club will use the Grant

Any grant we receive from the Volvic “Force of Nature Fund” will go directly to supporting the initiatives previously outlined to increase female participation in Rugby.  Many initiatives identified can and will be undertaken by our excellent team of volunteers who willingly give their time and skills to promote and develop female Rugby at our Club and require no funding to make a lasting impact. Last season we handed responsibility for our Social Media channels to two of our women’s squad and have seen “followers” increased from 280 to over 3000 across Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

Some of our initiatives do require financing.  Funding will be used to pay for courses and qualifications needed by additional volunteers recruited to support female Rugby.  Funding will be allocated to hire female physiotherapists to attend both female training sessions and female matches.  Our successful Schools Outreach efforts with the Insignis Trust, previously focused on boys, will be expanded to cover girls’ recruitment.  Girls Activity Days will be held this summer to harness the interest and excitement generated by the Women’s Rugby World Cup.  The popular dedicated female-led strength and conditioning sessions for females will be reinstated.  

Previously initiatives such as “Inner Warrior”, “This Girls Can” and “Impact 25” have proven useful in increasing female participation, however, our experience over the past few years has shown that initiatives which only run for one season tend to have limited impact.  Accordingly, our Executive Committee voted unanimously to match, £ for £, any grant awarded by Volvic to enable the funding to fully cover seasons 2025/2026 and 2026/2027.

Grant funding will be “ring fenced” and controlled by our Women’s Head Coach and Girls Head Coach, overseen by our Club Treasurer, who will report monthly to our Executive Committee to ensure all funding, either the grant or monies allocated by the Club, goes exclusively to supporting the promotion and expansion of female Rugby at our Club.  We are proud of what we have already achieved but have great ambition and commitment to take women’s Rugby to the next level.  Together Volvic and Aylesbury Rugby Football Club will make it happen!