It has been amazing over the last couple of weeks watching the England Women’s Football team progress so spectacularly through the World Cup.

It gives me no end of pleasure to see the rise and rise of Women’s sport despite the completely uneven playing field faced by women’s teams in most sports- less funding, poorer facilities and so on. I hope- no actually I know, that the Lionesses performance this summer has sewn the seeds of future achievement in little girls up and down the country.

Whilst I’ve enjoyed following the Lionesses, I must admit I’m a bigger fan of an egg-shaped ball. With two excellent rugby teams in Exmouth, there are lots of opportunities for potential players of all ages/genders/abilities to get involved. Exmouth Rugby Club- incidentally celebrating their 150th year as a club, are on the lookout for new female players for all their girls’ teams – U12,U14, U16, U18 and the newly formed Women’s team. Excitingly, Exmouth have got Claudia Macdonald as Lead Women’s Team Coach. Currently an Exeter Chiefs & England player, Claudia joined Exeter Chiefs Women ahead of the 2022/23 season from Wasps Women. Our other local club, Withycombe RFC also field a Women’s team and are very happy for new faces to join regardless of previous experience.

It seems that rugby is slightly ahead of the game here; it’s much harder to find football clubs with dedicated girls and ladies’ teams. A search on the internet only shows Exmouth United fielding U11 and U13’s and the only Women’s team is Budleigh AFC. It’s a reflection of the wider game that it’s difficult to join in as a female footballer and I’m thankful that our Community College give all students the opportunity to experience the game. In defence of local clubs, it’s often overlooked that the whole set-up is run by volunteers, so I suppose if there’s a grass roots demand for more girls provision it has to come with people willing to give up their time to make it happen. Let’s hope that on the back of another season of brilliant women on the sports pitch, we start to see a move towards encouraging girls to get their boots on and get stuck in; we have amply demonstrated that women’s sport is just as exciting as men’s.