Leeds Rhinos Foundation, the official charity of Leeds Rhinos, is proud to create more opportunities for girls to get involved with Rugby League through their Rugby League Development Plan with Mears.
Ahead of International Women’s Day 2020, Leeds Rhinos Foundation hosted a Year 9 Girls Indoor Touch Final at Farnley Academy. The tournament saw over 35 girls from the Farnley, Bruntcliffe Academy, Abbey Grange and Corpus Christi compete in the round-robin event.
The Finals were led by Leeds Rhinos Foundation’s Women and Girls Rugby League Development Officer, Shannon Lacey, who also plays for Leeds Rhinos Women and made her international debut for England last year. Each side also received coaching and support from new Leeds Rhinos Women’s coach, Lois Forsell, who heads up the development work for women and girls at the Foundation.
Speaking after the event, Lacey said: “I think it’s massive for girls to get involved in playing sport. It’s not just the health benefits that you get from taking part in sport but it’s the great experience of being a part of a team. The 2021 Rugby League World Cup is coming up so we’re trying to get as many girls involved in rugby league as possible and create a pathway for them to reach the top of the Women’s game.
“I think there’s so much more now available for girls to get involved in rugby league now. When I was in school, it was just Lois that was coming into schools and now across the board, there is a lot more on offer and it’s proven with how big it’s becoming.
“We’d like to say a massive thank you to Mears for how passionate they’ve been in supporting the development of the women’s game. They’ve been really supportive of Leeds Rhinos Women’s team as well as our work in the community and we’re really grateful for everything that they do for us.”
Abbie King, a PE Teacher at Farnley Academy, spoke about how the work Lacey and Forsell are doing is inspiring her students to get more involved in sport.
“It is really tricky to get girls involved in sport sometimes,” she commented. “They can lack motivation but having inspiring people coming into school, having the Rhinos Women team doing so well and even just them coming in to promote the sessions is getting more girls involved with the game and that’s fantastic.
“Shannon has been amazing, she’s really motivational to the girls and fully supportive of them. She’s able to come down and train the girls and really inspires them to want to follow in her footsteps.
“It’s great to have Leeds Rhinos Foundation come down to provide help and support with training our girls and for the students to have such inspiring figures from the Rhinos here, they feel engaged and motivated to go further. Because of that, I’ve seen a much bigger uptake in rugby with the girls at our school.”
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To find out more about what Leeds Rhinos Foundation does to support Women and Girls Rugby League, email Lois.Forsell@leedsrhinosfoundation.org.