I first became involved with MRC as an M&J player in 2003/2004. I played at the club until I was 16 before moving away to play rugby in Gloucester, Cardiff, Melbourne and Oxford, returning back to Manchester in both a playing and coaching capacity in 2020!

Do you consider yourself to be a role model?

I think there are some fantastic role models at Manchester Rugby Club, from the women who have stepped up to manage and run the club, to the young Girls’ Academy players who have been volunteering their time to coach the M&J teams. I hope that I can guide and inspire the players I coach to show commitment and determination in anything they pursue, whether that is on the field or in their studies or life in general.

How would you encourage other women to get involved with the club or with rugby?

Understandably, for anyone new to the club, it can be intimidating to put your name forward to be involved with a team or with the club as a whole. Manchester Rugby Club now has female representation across the board and it’s only becoming easier to be involved in supporting the club. If any mums, daughters, aunties, sisters or grandmas wanted to be involved with the club, I would suggest they get in touch with our wonderful Club President Suzanne Morton and M&J Chair Natalie Hall.

What are your aspirations in terms of female representation for the club?

I’d love to see more past and present players getting involved in both coaching and management at the club. Young athletes should be coached in a way that develops their confidence to try anything and not be afraid to fail along the way, and current/past players know this well. My main aim with coaching the girls is to ensure that they have all the tools for a long career in the sport, and that includes keeping things interesting, encouraging a strong unit of friends on and off the pitch, and teaching injury prevention from day 1.