Pitch in to support girls rugby at Thorne

Who are we?

Welcome to Thorne Lionesses Girls rugby section. The girls section has grown over the past 5 years from just 7 to nearly 40 girls. When Covid hit, we were only just starting out and it hit us hard as we are a contact, team sport - not best designed for social distancing! 

With the growing cost of living, we need to sustain ourselves and contribute to keeping our club afloat whilst not giving up our dreams of growing the girls section. 

Girls rugby has unique challenges and differing needs but offers so much to teenage girls. The chance to make friendships for life, build confidence, promote body positivity and be part of something special!

Our successes! 

Our main success is our collaboration with nearby club Wheatley Hills. By clustering our teams together we are able to provide the girls with more game opportunities. This has worked particularly well with our current U16's team who have been clustering with the same girls since they started. It has created great camaraderie to the point where the girls refer to themselves as one team, ThorneHills!

Our girls have so much potential! Since starting we have had 7 girls trial successfully for the Yorkshire Developing Player Programme and 1 girls enter the Yorkshire Centre of Excellence. We would love to provide even more girls with the opportunity to follow their dreams.

The girls after their first DPP match for Yorkshire

Why are we crowdfunding?

We want to raise a total of £2500 to enable us to invest in the girl’s section of Thorne Rugby Club. With funding we will be able to purchase more equipment and kit. We will be able to ensure that all girls have the opportunity to access the club regardless of background and financial limitations.

In an ideal world our newcomers should be developed into the main body of the team rather than thrown in at the deep end. This would aid retainment on both sides, the new players gaining confidence and the existing ones not being frustrated at having to go 'back to basics'. As with many rugby teams our volunteers are predominately parents of players but as the teams improve and we have the opportunity to progress in such tournaments as the National Cup we will need further coaching support.

Based in economically disadvantaged area, we need to support some of our girls to play rugby. This may be the suspension of paying subs, providing clothing or boots to wear.

Involvement and support from schools is crucial. To begin forming these new relationships, we would like to hold an all girls School Touch rugby tournament at our grounds to introduce as many girls as possible to rugby. We plan to do this in partnership with our friends at Wheatley Hills in order for them to benefit too!

We want to carry on providing our girls with enriching experiences of recent years. Trips to Aquaparks, inspirational visits to watch the Red Roses at Twickenham and taking part in the Annual Beach festival at Bridlington.

Lastly, we are always in need of new equipment. Purchasing more training equipment that enables the girls to train safely and reduces fear of injury. As the section grows more equipment will be needed for them to benefit from each session. Fear of injury can be a barrier for potential players and a range of equipment that enables them to build their skills safely will build confidence in the game and confidence in themselves 

How we’ll spend the money raised

We aim to become one of the most successful squads in the county. By this we mean the following;

Building our numbers and coaching team - We would like to co-ordinate taster and fun sessions in conjunction with our promotions, to encourage more girls to try rugby. Providing sessions throughout the summer, not only provides the opportunity for girls to try rugby continues the momentum created by our initial promotional campaigns into the next season which would help retain new and current players. We would also like to invest in our current and future coaches by paying for any relevant courses they wish to participate in. £500

Continuing our pledge to provide kit for the girls who come from disadvantaged communities  Making sure that no-one is left due to financial barriers, we would like to provide a training kit for the girls, to ensure the identity and sense of belonging they feel in a game is also felt at training. £600

Creating good relationships with schools and promoting our club and what it can offer through campaigns - Using various medias to reach all ages and sections of our community, spreading awareness and and information about what we can offer girls in our area. Organising an all girls schools tournament to build these relationships and engage girls from our area.£600

Providing adequate equipment for our girls to train with - Apart from needing the staple balls, bibs and cones we would like to buy 2 crashmats. This would give the younger girls more confidence and security when they are learning the contact side of rugby.£800

If we don't reach our target

The money raised will be prioritised towards equipment and promoting our girls rugby team.

If we are lucky to raise more

We would love to hold regular taster sessions and advertise on a frequent basis to keep the momentum going.

Giving girls the chance to come as a one off and making the events attractive really helps to engage the girls. For those friends of current players who want to give it a go, it usually takes a while for them to build up the courage.

We would also like to do outreach sessions within our local primary schools, focusing on Year 5 and 6 girls. By recruiting to our youngest age group, it will make our section more sustainable for the future. 

Whatever you can give is received with much gratitude and appreciation. 

Thank you for your support