From Minis to Maidens: Maidenhead RFC builds pathway for girls through to senior rugby

Over the past few years, Maidenhead RFC have grown their girls and women’s section from zero to more than 100, providing a pathway from u12s level through to u18s - and the final step will be establishing a permanent women’s team - The Iron Maidens - in the next few seasons.

To help in that endeavour, Maids have brought in Beth Candlin as head of women’s rugby and she and Jo Randall, head of the girls’ section, are together driving the growth and expansion of this part of the club.

Beth has represented England at u18s and u19s level and last season was playing for Eailing Trailfinders RFC while attending Brunel University.

She and Jo hope to use the Women’s Rugby World Cup, which started this week in the UK, to inspire more girls to come down to the club to give the game a go, and maybe - in the years ahead - one of those girls will go on to become a Red Rose, following in the footsteps of another local girl, England’s Abby Dow.

Maids’ now field girls’ teams at u12s, u14s, u16s and u18s levels and those teams have had a fair amount of success on the field.

Braywick Park has been full to the brim with supporters to see those girls’ sides in league and cup final action.

“U12s through to u18s is a really good pathway,” said Beth.

“We have strong numbers and good commitment. We have a great ethos, and all the girls are part of the Maidenhead family you might say. They all think it would be good for there to be a women’s team so if there was one for them to come back to when they’re older or when they come home from university, that would be really good.

“I joined last season, halfway through, and they had a few players in the years before that, mainly u16s and u18s. But throughout the years they’ve grown from 50 to well over 100 in the girl’s section. We’re continuously getting emails from people who want to join.

“We’re going to use and exploit the Rugby World Cup to advertise rugby for women and rugby for all. There’s also T1 now (touch) so if people don’t want to do contact, they can do that. We want to inspire girls to be the next Red Rose

She added: “With regards the Iron Maidens, the aim is continue building this year and, if we can get the numbers – and we’ve spoken with other clubs to maybe join with them – that will help the women that are coming down to get some game time. And then next season or the season after we’ll start to field a team. We’ve also spoken with other clubs who are interested in having a friendly with us, which is good.”

Creating an environment in which girls and women can flourish in rugby is not without its challenges. Braywick Park has fantastic facilities for youth rugby, but it can still be a daunting space for teenage girls.

That’s why Maids have built bespoke changing rooms for them to use. The finishing touches are being put to those areas this week and Beth believes it will give players a place they feel is their own,

“The girls’ changing rooms are brilliant,” said Beth, “They’re putting the finishing touches to those now and I’ve seen some of the photos and it looks really good.

“They’ve been done in a way girls would like, there are mirrors for their hair and stuff that girls would want. There are proper nice lockers and cubby holes, it’s just really good. It makes them feel like they’ve got their own space, that they’re not sharing.

“They’ve got their own foot in the club. It’s daunting for a girl to walk past all the boys and the men to get to their changing rooms. Now they can go to an area that’s full of girls and women.

“You feel more comfortable, and they’ll feel at ease. They can make that space their own.”