Royal London award boosts Buccaneers’ drive to improve women’s section
Buccaneers RFC was recently confirmed as the Irish recipients of a prestigious award that will see the women's section of the club benefit to the tune of €11,800.
The Athlone based club have been selected as winners of the Royal London Championing Women’s and Girls’ Rugby Award, as recognition of a commitment to developing female rugby, fostering inclusion and building a vibrant pathway for women and girls in sport.
The Championing Women & Girls’ Rugby Award is a flagship element of Royal London’s sponsorship as founding partner of the first ever British & Irish Lions women’s team and sees one winning club in each home union (England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales) receive a trophy and €11,800 to invest in women’s and girls’ rugby programmes.
Amy O’Connor, senior women’s team manager at Buccaneers, said that winning the award will transform how they can support its female players.
“Every Buccaneers athlete, from minis to seniors, will benefit from enhanced welfare initiatives, improved facilities, and greater opportunities to thrive both on and off the pitch," she said.
"This funding will help us increase participation and retention, support parents and guardians with education and resources, and demonstrate our commitment to excellence in rugby. At Buccaneers, we don’t just celebrate our women’s and girls’ teams - we honour and elevate them. This is not just an investment in sport - it’s an investment in people, in equality, and in the future of women’s rugby in our region.”
Buccaneers was one of 260 applicants from Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales for the award and on receiving notification of its success, the judging committee informed the club it was selected for numerous reasons, including having a complete player pathway from U6 level to seniors, and also for its role in working with several groups outside the club.
“We are committed to ensuring women and girls of all ages and backgrounds feel welcomed, supported and inspired to play rugby. Buccaneers actively promotes the game through outreach in primary and secondary schools, community groups, sports partnership groups and youth organisations,” Amy said.
“We have a club that works for everybody involved and have managed to build a strong structure and player pathway that gives us a great foundation moving forward. The award is a major achievement for us, as women's rugby is only in the club around ten years and in Ireland just over 30 years,” she added.
Amy said that the club's female coaches, mentors and international role models – including local stars and current Irish players Anna McGann (from Moydrum, Athlone) and Aoibheann Reilly (from the Ballinasloe area) - provide a visible and achievable pathway to its young players, showing that “it is realistic to aim high and meet ambitions”.
She praised both current Irish internationals for the support they continue to give to the club, with Aoibheann Reilly, the Connacht and Ireland scrum-half, recently attending a club event called 'Building Better Players'. Amy said that Aoibheann was a privilege to have in the club on the day and that she gave great time and encouragement to the many young players who attended the event.
Both McGann and Reilly are part of the Irish squad which is preparing for the upcoming Women's Six Nations Championship opener against England on Saturday, April 11, and the Buccaneers club were keen to wish both well in this year's campaign.
As part of its Building Better Players programme, the club is working extremely hard on many aspects of creating an all-around thriving infrastructure including educating players on the benefits of team-work, inclusivity, values, strength and conditioning, nutrition, female hormone health, perimenopause, and post-parting player well-being. They are also focusing their efforts on achieving “next standard in coaching”, something Amy says will be greatly helped by the award.
The women's section of the club is also putting big efforts into educating players, coaches, parents and the wider community on the importance of learning about breast injury prevention and breast health in rugby. To that end, Amy said the club was delighted to recently go into partnership with Burgess of Athlone, one of the town's leading department stores, that will see each female player in the club receive a free sports bra. These club efforts are supported by recent research into these topics by the Irish Rugby Football Union and Connacht Rugby.
Amy said that the work by the club in the development of the female rugby game is seen through its youth and mini sections, but that the revival of the senior women’s team, in 2024, has given a full player pathway to club players. She said that this development now allows the club to hold onto its homegrown players for longer, and strive to potentially become a member of the Women’s All-Ireland League in the future.
The senior team recently completed its Connacht League season with a strong showing by its 32-strong squad, and Amy said that pre-season training will again begin at the end of July. She said that new players who feel they can compete at the level are always welcome to join and the next season will begin in September.
“We are always looking to strengthen our playing ranks, as well as the coaching and mentoring structures. That's what will continue to move us forward. The award from Royal London shows we continue to commit to moving the girls' and women's sections forward and we look forward to continuing its growth in the coming years,” Amy added.