Come and join us!

We are quite simply the biggest and best girls’ team in South West London, but we’re also a very friendly and welcoming group. Wimbledon Girls’ coaches aim to make the training sessions fun, but encourage the girls to take their rugby seriously and help them to get better every time they play.

We have over 100 girls playing across our four youth teams (U12/U14/U16/U18) and Minis. As with girls’ rugby nationally, our players have grown in number and skill year on year since the section started in 2015 and we are actively recruiting girls to all our squads, but particularly in this Rugby World Cup season, focusing on U12 (Year 7).

Wimbledon Girls have represented England Rugby at U18 and Surrey in the RFU U15 and U18 National Girls Cups. We regularly have players selected for Surrey squads and recommended for the RFU centre of excellence stream, and several players have won rugby scholarships, most recently to Henley College’s inaugural girls’ rugby programme. We also had a record number of girls selected for the UR7s academy in 2021.

When and where?

Sunday mornings at Wimbledon Rugby Club, Barham Road, Wimbledon, London SW20 0ET

10am
U12 (year 7)
U14 (years 8 and 9)
U16 (years 10 and 11)

11.30am
U18 (years 12 and 13)

How do I join?

Come along to a taster session, or simply drop an email to girls@wmrfc.co.uk and we’ll arrange a date to come along. We are always looking for new players, whether experienced or completely new to the game.

We just want enthusiasm and commitment and we’ll help you with the rest.

You can also find out more about us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

The coaching team

Each age group has its own coaching team, drawn from a mix of female players, including two ex Internationals, parent coaches and other senior coaches from the club, who provide specialist backs, forward and kicking coaching.

We pride ourselves on giving our girls the best rugby opportunities and find new steps on their rugby pathway. We have hosted Girls Rugby Club camps, with coaching from England players; helped girls train for UR7s Academy trials, where they had more opportunities to be coached by Olympians.

What you need to bring

● Gum shield for when you play contact - if you’re not sure which one to buy just ask a coach or manager
● Studded football/rugby boots. (Boots are better if it is muddy but trainers can be better at the start or end of the season when the ground is dry.)
● Comfy clothes that can get muddy. Wet weather gear if it looks like rain. Once you know you’re keen to join then you can buy kit from the club’s official supplier, Akuma
● Water to drink

Which group?

Reception (U5) to Year 6 (U11)
Can join the mixed minis at any point. When you get to Year 6 (U11) you can choose to switch to the all-girls U12 team, which combines Years 6 and 7.

Rugby is known for being a contact sport and players start to learn contact rugby from U9. The girls can do as little or as much as they are comfortable with until their confidence grows, but we do a lot of touch/tag rugby as part of the training. Any contact that we do will be properly coached and girls must wear a gumshield. Safety is Key!

U14 - school years 8 & 9
Lots of girls only start rugby at secondary school but they learn very quickly. There are Surrey competitions from U14 as well as lots of friendly matches to play.

U16 - schools years 10 & 11
This is when you start playing 15-a-side rugby with all the different positions. There is a National competition and also Surrey competitions to take part in.

U18 - school years 12 & 13
Similar rules and competitions to U16s, but you can have contested lineouts now.

Uni and beyond!
The top year of the girls’ section (year 13) can begin to train with the Women’s team. More and more girls are picking up rugby at university and then coming home hooked, so we are keen to welcome them to Wimbledon women, which celebrated its 30th year in 2020 (celebrations postponed to 2021!).

Find out more!

Check out this video featuring a Wimbledon Coach (Kirsty, from 2018). She talks about how she got into the game and why she's so passionate about rugby.

Also watch a snippet of our girls in action

ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT GIRLS’ RUGBY AT WIMBLEDON RFC email girls@wmrfc.co.uk