Bath Rugby Ladies Need You!

Think rugby and you might picture burly men mindlessly knocking lumps out of each other, up to their knees in mud.

Think again – meet Bath Rugby Ladies.

Burly? Never. To meet the girls in the street, or more likely in the gym, one would be hard pushed to tell most of them apart from any other athletes.

Mindless? No. Half of the squad are graduates, many having met while playing for the University of Bath, and day jobs include engineers, teachers and biochemists and several of the players are currently studying at College or University.

Mud? Okay, that is inescapable.

But a new era is set to kick-off at Lambridge following Bath Rugby Ladies’ decision to join up with the Bath RFC, an amateur club that has existed since 1865. In 1996 the men’s team moved to form Bath Rugby Plc at the start of the professional era.

It was intended to reinstate a men’s senior team after a two-year period but the lack of a proper ground delayed that for 16 years, during which time the youth section continued with no adult sides to progress to.

But with Bath Rugby moving their training facilities to Farleigh House, Lambridge is now free for use and is currently being redeveloped to allow Bath RFC to make it their home. It’s great that finally, after waiting 16 years, the teams can now work together from U7 – U18 along with the mens and ladies teams after years of playing at separate locations.

The Ladies team have been based at Lambridge since they were established in 2004 and, having narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premiership in 2010-11, will be pushing for Championship 1 South honours in the coming season.

Along with a change of club, the team have many new players this season and have also introduced a new coaching set up who look to take the team into a new era. The team are keen to get more women from the Bath area involved in the game – there’s already a variety of experience levels from novice to experienced so anyone is welcome to the team.

A number of former Bath Rugby Ladies have gone on to gain international honours: England internationals include Nicola Hoole, Marlie Packer, Natasha Hunt and Izzy Noel-Smith, while current players Caryl Thomas and Aimee Young have both gained full caps for Wales.

There are great opportunities to develop existing skills or learn from scratch with the Bath Rugby Ladies team, so regardless of experience, we welcome any ladies that are looking to develop their rugby skills and knowledge and at the same time, meet new people and get involved in a local club.

Lizzie Passingham, Bath Ladies newest member says ‘Thank you all for your support and encouragement from the start. As a new member you all made me feel really welcome and part of the team’.

The ages of the players vary from 17 to early 40s so you’re never too old to start something new! So if you are wanting to find something where you can keep fit, meet new people and you enjoy playing and supporting rugby then get in touch!

The Ladies train every Tuesday and Thursday at Lambridge from 6:45pm and play most Sundays. If you’re not too keen on getting dirty on the pitch, all of our matches are free so everyone is welcome to come along and support the team – there is always hot bacon rolls and tea available in the new clubhouse for those rainy days… Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @BathRugbyLadies for details of our next matches or come down to the clubhouse and check out the notice board.

Please contact Sarah on bathrugbyladies@hotmail.co.uk or 07816 757644 if you would like to join the Ladies. Alternatively, come along to Lambridge for a chat on Tuesday or Thursday evenings. We hope to see you soon!

Twitter: @BathRugbyLadies