Long Eaton Rugby Club Womens XV have recorded back to back promotions, with the most recent concluded in style without defeat.
The 22/23 season ended on a high with the Women's Senior Team topping the NC1 Midlands Women's table and continuing an unbeaten run that spans two seasons. The Blues have faced tough opposition through the season and have expressed gratitude for the support given to the team locally. A statement said that players were looking forward to continued support as they moved into the Women's Championship Midlands 2 division next season following the most recent promotion.
Long Eaton Rugby Club established a Women's team in 2018, and in the early games just managed to pull together a starting XV. The Women's division at Long Eaton Rugby Club has gone from strength to strength over the last 5 years and the boasts 56 senior female players, with coaches now looking to develop and field a 2nd team regularly in the 23/24 season.
This trend and the growth of the women's game is evident across the club, with three junior girls sides currently standing at 87 registered players. In the spirit of being a rugby family and promoting Long Eaton's #oneclub philosophy younger players are following in the footsteps of their Mums, Aunts and other family members who are proudly donning Long Eaton kit in the senior division, including Mother and Daughter combos like Ellen and Alisha Berry and Clare and Isla McGuinnis and Aunt and Niece Mel Lewis and Imogen Clarke.
Coach Gary Rudkin comments on our amazing NC1 Midlands; “It has been a pleasure coaching the women at LERFC this season. All the players have responded to improving their techniques & new tactics with the league team securing promotion for a second successive season & the development team playing an increasing number of games."
The team, based at West Park in Long Eaton trains twice a week with volunteer coaches and has a squad made up of players from all shapes, experiences levels, backgrounds and ages; currently the age range spans from 17-49 years young.
Long Eaton Women XV welcome anyone who would like to try the game out. No experience is necessary. If you are looking for a new challenge, want to learn some new skills or are looking to return after a break from the game, just go along to a forthcoming training session. Follow and contact the squad on Instagram @lerfcwomen or on Tiktok @lerfcwomensrugby
The team meets every Tuesday & Thursday evening from 7:30 to 9:00pm at West Park, in Long Eaton.
2023 season Stats
- Total Game Points Scored: 568
- 11 Try Bonus Points out of 16 games
- Top Try Scorer: Clare McGinnis with 33 (165 points)
On 30th April 2023 from 10am, at the West Park Clubhouse, a season celebration and showcase event will be held. Director of Rugby, Russ Hodgkinson is excited to host the event. He said: ‘The event on the 30th April is an event to promote and celebrate womens and girls rugby at Long Eaton. We have games for girls under 8s ladies vs our friends at Nottingham Uni! Games starting 10am till about 4! Let’s make it a day of Womens Sport to remember!"