World Rugby's latest plan to take the Women's game to next level

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: World Rugby in collaboration with ChildFund Rugby announced the next phase of the Grassroots to Global Series on the road to the World Cup 2025.

The Grassroots to Global Series is designed to accelerate the global development of women’s rugby and is part of World Rugby and ChildFund Rugby’s global mission to unite and uplift female leaders in rugby on the road to the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.

Each Grassroots to Global Forum brings together 30-35 emerging female leaders from community rugby, selected by their respective Unions, to exchange ideas and create action plans for enhancing gender inclusion within their rugby communities. Participants engage in Leadership Journey Mapping, to enable them to identify the key drivers and barriers they face in rugby leadership.

The programme provides a powerful platform for female coaches, players and leaders to drive social change and increase the number of females involved in the sport, both on and off the field.

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The first Grassroots to Global Series forum of the 2025 Series took place at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver earlier this month, in conjunction with women’s 15s tournament, WXV 1 which took place at the same venue.

A major finding from the previous Grassroots to Global series was that female coaches are a key driver in increasing female participation in rugby. The 2025 series, therefore, focuses on expanding female coaching opportunities at the community level.

To support these findings, this particular forum was the first of its kind as ChildFund Rugby and its High-Performance Academy (GHPA), a fully immersive global development and leadership programme that’s enhancing the prominence of female coaches and increasing the competitiveness of the women’s game as we approach Women’s World Cup England 2025.

Founded by World Rugby and a sponsor – with a focus on talent identification, professional support and championing the next generation of international coaches – the Academy develops existing coaching talent, and identifies opportunities for new coaches and women in other high-performance roles. Since 2023, 37 female coaches have been supported by the GHPA, with the aim of having 40 percent female coaches at England 2025.

As part of the Vancouver event, 2024 GHPA coaches Carolyn McEwen (Canada) and Maz Reilly (Ireland) joined several local coaches to deliver a fun and engaging masterclass with female leaders in community rugby, aged 16-30 years, coming together from across Canada.

The masterclass aimed to create a strong pipeline for women coaches and inspire emerging leaders in the game, reinforcing the shared mission of increasing female participation in rugby coaching at both community and elite levels. Together, Grassroots to Global and the Gallagher High-Performance Academy contribute to a more inclusive and diverse rugby ecosystem.

The GHPA masterclass in Vancouver was the first of 30 more that will be held across the globe over the next nine months in the lead-up to England 2025. Grassroots to Global representatives from every participating forum will come together for a five-day event in the lead-up to the opening game of the tournament, at the Sunderland Stadium of Light.

The 2025 series follows the successful launch of the Grassroots to Global – Women in Rugby Inspiring Change programme, which took place in 2021 and 2022. The initiative saw 26 forums take place, with close to 500 female leaders participating in the programme. Since launching, the Grassroots to Global, leaders from around the world have continued to inspire and engage new players with successes including Cambodia, forming its first women’s rugby clubs, and the sport expanding into new parts of Brazil.

World Rugby Chief of Women’s Rugby Sally Horrox said: “It’s fantastic to see ChildFund Rugby’s Grassroots to Global series announce over 30 more forums as we enter this crucial period in the lead-up to the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.

“What better way to kick-off proceedings than with a special masterclass, in collaboration with the High-Performance Academy, which brought female community leaders in rugby together to connect, learn from each other, and most importantly, have some fun.

“To grow the game of rugby, we need more women in leadership roles both on and off the pitch. It’s great to have ChildFund Rugby and Gallagher onboard who share a common goal to recruit more girls and women into coaching from the grassroots community level right the way through to the elite end of the game, through training, coaching, and mentoring.

“It’s inspiring to see the impact these sessions are already having, and we look forward to continuing to forge a strong pathway for female coaches alongside out partners on the road to 2025.”