Maids to revitalise women’s section
Club's new director hopes to create pathway for girls to follow passion and play for first XV
Having been named Maidenhead’s new director of women’s rugby, Stephen Jones says he’s determined to revitalise this important section of the club and provide girls and women with a pathway to follow their passion and play for the first team.
Jones, the Sunday Times’ rugby correspondent, has been associated with Maids for many years, having coached both of his son’s teams through to Colts level, and also spent time coaching rugby with Desborough College.
Work commitments ensured he wasn’t able to give as much time as he’d have liked to the role at the College, but he’s confident he’ll be able to help Maids transform its provision for women and girls.
The first team side have been newly named ‘The Iron Maidens’ and, having met some of the players and chatted to them all through a team WhatsApp group, Jones knows they’re all chomping at the bit to get playing again. The side was formed last year and, having had some training sessions, took part in a touch 10s competition toward the end of the year. The plan is to build up the team over the coming months and prepare them for competitive league matches.
Alongside this the club also plans to start a u13s and u17s team from next season and will be visiting schools in the area to encourage girls to come for taster sessions.
It is hoped these teams will provide a pathway for girls to continue playing after the age of 12 when many drop out of the game as they can no longer compete physically alongside boys.
Jones, who’s covered every Women’s World Cup as a reporter and says the women’s game is so exciting to watch, can’t wait to bring his experience to bear on the squad.
“I’d been looking for something and I’d missed the contact I’d had with the teams,” Jones said of his motivation to take on the role. “Rugby moves on so quickly that if you don’t stay close to it, things will develop, and you won’t know where you are.
“I’ve covered women’s rugby for donkey’s years; I think I’ve been to almost every World Cup with the girls and they’re so easy to deal with and the women’s game is so exciting.
“I had a chat with Myke Parrott about it and said that I’d love to do something with the girls. We continued talking and we came up with this director of women’s rugby title, which is a bit grandiose, but you’ve got to call yourself something.
“We’ve already got a women’s team. I’ve not actually met most of them, but they have a Whatsapp group and everyone is really keen. From the contact I’ve had with them, they’re desperate to get out there and I’d love to
help revitalise the team.”
He added: We’ve had offers of matches from other teams. In this limbo we’re waiting for things to happen. As soon as we can restart any form of training, even if it’s only restricted, we will do. We’ll definitely have games as soon as we can. If we’ve got no props or they’re all props, we’ll have to build the team a bit more, but as soon as we can we’ll play games and then, in the mid-term, join one of the leagues.”
Maidenhead used to have a stronger women’s and girls’ section, but they lost many of their best players when the RFU created central hubs for players, bypassing the community clubs. Jones hopes he can re-establish Maids as a centre of excellence for young women, giving those who’ve fallen by the wayside a chance to rediscover their love of the game, while offering others a chance to experience it for the first time.
Matt Snudden will coach the women’s first team, but Jones also wants to open the door for more of the players to gain coaching experience and provide back up for Snudden in the not-too-distant future.
He knows that a little time will be needed to put together a competitive
first XV and get everyone up to speed in terms of match-fitness, but he’s hopeful with some training they’ll be ready to play competitively and the mid-term plan is to let the Iron Maidens loose on a league very soon.
“We used to have a strong women’s side,” said Jones. “But the RFU decided to put clubs into hubs and we had to send our best players there. We lost out because of that. We’re hoping to recruit people who used to play for Maids and may have fallen by the wayside, but also introduce women and girls to rugby as well. As a club we’re geared up to have people who have played the game for 10 years and also people who have never played the game before. I just think there’s an appetite for it in the Maidenhead district and, in fact, everywhere.
“We’re playing catch up in a way, but Steve Bough (the chairman) is very enthusiastic about it. We’ve already got a core of a side and they’re very welcoming about the changes we plan to make. Matt is still going to be the coach, but you can’t coach on your own,” added Jones. “The goal is to develop women coaches, and this is a good opportunity because there aren’t many women coaches around. It’s about time girls had the chance to
coach as well, and we hope to be able to back him up with coaches as they develop. Another issue is you tend to lose players at the age of 12, because that’s the last time boys and girls can play together. Technically, many of them would like to continue playing, so that’s why we’re going to form a u13s team from next season, and then we’ll do a u17s team after that which will feed into the main team. I don’t think it’s going to be easy, but we’re determined to do it.
“We’re going to visit every school and every education place to help with recruitment. We want to say ‘if you’d like to play rugby, or want to continue playing rugby, you’re welcome at Maidenhead. We’ll set up coaching groups for that as well and we’ll see what happens.”
The club has also received a Get Berkshire Active grant which it will put towards promoting girls rugby.
Chairman Steve Bough said: “We are using the funding to promote girls rugby out to schools and other education hubs and also from within the club. The plan is to create flyers and posters to send out to schools inviting girls to come to the club for monthly sessions to get exercise and introduce them to rugby (and the club).”