The East London Women’s Rugby Team, Eton Manor, recently acquired a sponsor in the form of Kingsley Napley: a leading UK law firm. They are taking part in their first ever league this season and currently doing far better than expectations. Coming from a rugby club with a strong men’s team and diverse youth section, one can expect the women to set up yet another outstanding president. 

 

Kingsley Napley LLP is a law firm that provides diverse expertise in many areas. These areas include: employment law, private client advisory, public law, criminal defence litigation, investigations, corporate and commercial, dispute resolution, family law, medical negligence & personal injury, regulatory, real estate, construction and immigration.

 

I had the honour of interviewing Jackie Clune, the chair of Eton Manor Women’s team,  to get insight into the life of someone running a women’s rugby team. She has been running their Girls’ Rugby for ten years now and has a lot of knowledge to share about the sport’s infrastructure.

 

When asked to describe the experience of running the team in three words, Jackie explained that it is “thrilling, inspirational and joyful.” She added, “I think what inspires me the most is seeing women, who may not have ever physically challenged themselves, step up to the physical challenge of rugby and also emotionally and spiritually step up because it is a tough physical game.” Jackie explains how “for the older women in the team, we grew up with the message that girls should be nice, polite, not physical, not aggressive and certainly not really competitive… to watch them become more than who they thought they were” is “exciting”.

 

In terms of getting a sponsor for their team, “we’re (Eton Manor) always asking.” Jackie believes “it’s quite a good brand, Women’s Rugby,” and I can’t help but full heartedly agree. “Women’s Rugby is one of the fastest growing sports in the world...so more and more sponsors are attracted to it.”

 

“We’re always looking for sponsors because the kit is expensive and we’re in east London and some families don’t have a lot of money.”

 

In terms of advice for gaining a team sponsor, “to be detailed and to be consistent and make sure that you have a plan in terms of how you sell yourself” was the key point. To put yourself out there and “just not being afraid to ask for stuff...that’s the biggest lesson.” 

 

“What I’ve (Jackie) found is that if you ask, you never know what you might get and sometimes you get more than what you hoped for.”

 

When going into their first league, the team was “terrified”; so terrified that, “in fact, last summer I (Jackie) spoke to a few people and we were all so worried I actually emailed the RFU governing body to say I think we entered too high and can we put down a league...they replied with no, sorry, it’s too late and everything has been published but if by Christmas you have received so many poundings you feel it’s unsafe to carry on we can drop you out of the league.”

 

Their anxiety was short lived, however, as they “won their first match” which they “were really not expecting to do.” Their excitement was furthered by winning their second, losing their third, and not being beaten since that third match. Jackie concludes that they’ve “done hugely better than what we thought we would, so we have been very, very proud.”

 

I asked her what kind of adversaries she faces as the chairperson of a rugby team, especially a women’s rugby team, and Jackie replied, “A lot actually… I think starting a women’s rugby team in a club that has four men’s teams and a huge youth section was always a sort of natural progression.” Initially she’d experienced “a lot of enthusiasm”, yet at that “point people realised it meant that we would need stuff. We would need training pitch time… kit… food… infrastructure to support us.”

 

“I (Jackie) think a big theme for women in sport is that they don’t get their share of the cake and sometimes you have to fight harder. I have a motto which is don’t say no to me. If I want something for the Women’s Team it’s probably better that you just say yes first.”

 

“Up until a few years ago… a lot of Women’s Rugby players were not paid. They were not professional. They were having to work other jobs and train as often as they could with their clubs by themselves and then with the international team.” Many female rugby players would have to juggle paying for their lives, playing the sport they loved, and dealing with this “huge dividing line” between them and the men of their sport.

 

“If you’re not paid to do what you’re representing your country for then you are not gonna have as much time and as much focus to put into training because you are gonna have to be doing something elsewhere. So that’s a big step for the women now that they are on contracts; now that they are able to focus on their rugby.”

 

Jackie described the best part of her role is “watching them play… I love seeing people achieving something, like the first time somebody plays for us and they put in a big tackle, or they score a try, or they make a really good pass. That gives me such a buzz, it really does… the biggest buzz I get is from something like that, where somebody who wasn’t confident goes into a match and does something incredible. That really does it for me. That makes it all worthwhile.”

 

Finally, Jackie offers advice for other women who strive for a similar role to the one that she upkeeps. Her words of wisdom being: “Be courageous. Be cheeky. Be persistent. Don’t let people tell you no. Don’t accept that the way it is, is the way it has to be. Always look for the next move, the next thing that is going to push you forwards because the rewards are great.”