Departures at Vixens a blow to women’s rugby
WOMEN’S RUGBY in Wexford town has been dealt a serious blow as 12 players have left the Vixens Senior team following the removal of Noel Ferguson as the team’s coach, and the withdrawal of the team from the Division Three League.
But Wexford Wanderers RFC says that it remains fully and equally committed to the development of both women/girls and men/boys rugby.
The Vixens ladies club has been in operation for the past 15 years and Mr Ferguson has been the coach since day one. However, in early September, he received written correspondence from the club directing him to stand down from his role.
The decision came following a players’ meeting on the night of September 4 when those present were invited to make their observations on the issues in the Vixens’ team. The meeting was called by the club committee after three players transferred from the club.
A representative group from the 12 players, and Mr Ferguson, spoke to this newspaper and voiced their discontent with what transpired at the meeting and thereafter.
The 12 players are among the most experienced and long-standing members of the Vixens team and Mr Ferguson regarded them as his leaders on the field. However, the group said that some other members within the team, who had joined in recent years, were unhappy with this, misconstruing it as favouritism and a lack of confidence in them as players. The 12 women believe some players took umbrage with the close bond they had with Mr Ferguson.
One player said Mr Ferguson had treated them all as equals but, as some of the players are more experienced, he would ask them to run examples of drills.
Mr Ferguson said: ‘These girls have been with me since the very start; they are my leaders on the field who watch out for the younger players.’
In the letter sent to Mr Ferguson the day after the player’s meeting, the club said several issues had been raised including: lack of basic coaching, lack of confidence of players, poor attendance at training, and evidence of cliques within the team.’ It terminated his role as coach, with immediate effect.
Mr Ferguson responded by letter, taking offence to the scrutinising of his coaching ability, pointing out that he had been involved in the club for 50 years and had coached ladies Leinster Interpro teams, Carlow’s Senior AIL team and many others.
Irish player Katie Fitzhenry also began her rugby career with him as a member of the Vixens.
He was subsequently offered a watered down role as team manager that prohibited him from attending more than 15 minutes of a training session.
Mr Ferguson said: ‘I was insulted but I was going to accept it. I was turned down; they said I was too late.’ A replacement coach was put in place two weeks after the meeting and, despite their reservations, the 12 women returned to training as they feared the team would be pulled from competition if they did not have numbers.
On Tuesday, October 30, the Vixens played a practice game against a team in a division above them and won. That evening, after the match, they had a players’ meeting during which commitment was discussed as the team’s insurance cost €2,000 and it was intimated that it could be put to other use in the club house if the women could not guarantee commitment.
The women who spoke to this newspaper said that they had stressed, from the beginning, that they did not want to go back to playing ‘Mickey Mouse’ rugby in the development league which had been suggested as an alternative for the year.
The Vixens played a league match against Clontarf on Sunday, November 4. That night, the team received a text seeking commitment for a match the following Sunday.
On Monday, November 5 at 6 p.m. only eleven replies had been received (some players had not seen the message according to the group) and they then received a group Whatsapp message saying that the team had been pulled from the league and they would be told more at training the following day. Due to bad weather, that session was cancelled.
One-by-one, players withdrew from the team.
The women who spoke to this newspaper say they have never felt that the club fully supported the women’s team.
In a landscape that has recently seen the launch of the 20x20 campaign which aims to increase participation in women’s sport, the group says that what has happened to the Vixens is a huge blow.
Statistics from the recently launched Women in Rugby Action Plan 2018-2023 state that there is only 1,341 active adult ladies rugby players. The group said that Wexford had lost 12 of those, adding that they couldn’t have numbers without support.
The club responded to a series of questions from this newspaper with the following statement:
‘Wexford Wanderers RFC is fully and equally committed to the development of both women/girls and men/boys rugby. WWRFC fully supports the IRFU recommendations for increased female participation in the game and is actively implementing them.
‘We are most proud of the increase in participation of female players with three female youths teams participating for the first time this season in under 14, under 16 and under 18 Leinster leagues which is seen as a critical factor in the development of our Women’s Senior Team.
‘The club has a culture of openness and accountability in all its activities with its members; however, we do not comment on any internal matters.’