Women and Girls Rugby League

Women and girls rugby league

Women’s Rugby League is one of the fastest growing sports in Leeds and there are now more opportunities than ever for girls across the city to get involved in playing the game.

Through the charity’s Rugby League Development Plan, sponsored by Mears, the Sky Try programme and the ongoing Women and Girls development work, Leeds Rhinos Foundation aim to help more women in Leeds get involved in playing rugby league. Since the start of the school year, Leeds Rhinos Foundation has coached over 400 girls in schools, hosted a number of tournaments for both full contact and Tag Rugby and increased participation with free taster sessions at community clubs across the city.

The popularity of Women’s and Girls’ Rugby League is at an all-time high with the number of women and girls playing community Rugby League increasing by 53% since 2017. Prior to the pandemic which saw the 2020 season all but wiped out, the growth has been across the age spectrum with a 23% increase in under 12s playing in mixed gender competitions, an 85% increase in 12- to 16-year-olds playing in girls’ competitions and a 36% increase in over 16s playing in women’s competitions.

We have also delivered an extensive programme of Women’s and Girls’ development programmes, ranging from our popular ETP Player Development Days to the launch of our first ever Girls Development Academy with Leeds City College.

Interested in joining a local club? Below are details of teams who run Girls teams in Leeds:

For information on the work Leeds Rhinos Foundation do to support the growth of the Women and Girls game, please email ellis.pascall@leedsrhinosfoundation.org.