USA Rugby Training & Education has launched an inclusivity initiative, and two of the first offerings will be all-female coaching and officiating clinics. The clinics are being held Saturday-Sunday, July 1-2 in San Diego to coordinate with the USA Men’s 15s test and USA Women’s 15s friendly.
“Training and Education is trying to provide clinics that encourage underrepresented populations to be move involved in the game,” USA Rugby Training & Education manager Katie Dyke explained via e-mail. “The concept being that if prospective players/coaches/admins, etc., see individuals who look like them and/or reflect how they see themselves, they’re more likely to participate.”
On Saturday, July 1, the San Diego Surfers will host an all-female Level 1 refereeing clinic (read more). On Sunday, July 2, Alta Vista High School and Tri-City Rugby Club will co-host and all-female USA Rugby Level 200 / World Rugby Level 1 coaching course (read more). Both clinics include tickets to the men’s and women’s USA matches.
“This particular clinic is led by women to show strong female leadership in the sport and to be able to speak to issues that are unique to women who play/coach/ref rugby,” Dyke wrote. “We also have clinics coming up in different languages: Spanish, Tongan and Samoan.”
If these clinics are well attended, then future all-female clinics will be considered. Dyke also explained that the department is brainstorming ways to launch courses that engage other underrepresented populations, for example, deaf/hard of hearing, adaptive rugby and military.
“Essentially, any idea to encourage participation outside of the predominantly identified white, male, straight, cisgender population is something we’re open to and looking into promoting – so all ideas are welcome,” Dyke concluded. “The end goal is to get to where we don’t have to push separate initiatives and all rugby is inherently inclusive with participation demographics reflective of all populations in the U.S.”
For more information, contact Katie Dyke at kdyke@usarugby.org.
To register for the July 1 refereeing clinic, click here.
To register for the July 2 coaching clinic, click here.
#USARugby