June 1st, 2006

At the end of a long season Letchworth Girls have received a boost with the news they’ve been awarded a grant of £2,650 from the Local Network Fund to help them continue to develop and expand opportunities for girls rugby in the area.

The Local Network Fund is an initiative resulting from the Government’s ‘Every Child Matters’ strategy which aims to improve opportunities for all children and young people.

The fund enables local voluntary groups to develop projects and activities for young people with limited opportunities or access to services. £420,000 of Local Network Fund money is available for Hertfordshire groups in this financial year.

Girls’ sport is one of the main areas targeted by the fund as female participation in competitive sport, especially team sport, is far lower than that of men’s sport but as John Birch, manager of the girls’ section at Letchworth, explains this is often due to a lack of opportunity and awareness of team sports.

Birch said: “When it come to boys many of their dads will have played, but few girls will have mums who played the game. That requires a different approach, and higher levels of investment and support. It also means that the most difficult thing is not so much getting girls to try the sport, but to make them aware that rugby is a game that girls can play.

“The proof is in the pudding as at least a third of all girls who have sampled rugby at Letchworth over the past couple of years have gone on to play for the club. This grant is certainly a big boost as it will help us invest more time, effort and resources into developing rugby in the local area.”

Ends…