Challenging perceptions to break down barriers
In a recent podcast, I chatted to Sheffield Eagles Rugby Development Manager Andrea Dobson. Here's an extract on building inclusivity and challenging perceptions
People think rugby league is just the Super League, but it’s far more than that.
When we relaunched the foundation at the Eagles, the big thing that we spoke about was that we wanted people to be sitting in a stand and to be able to see something they could play.
So whether you're male, female, disabled, old, young etc, you can come and play rugby league.
I think that challenges the traditions of the game a little bit because it is different.
It’s important to challenge perceptions of what people think about rugby, whether that's rugby league or rugby union.
The sport doesn’t have to be contact, it doesn’t have to fit into the narrative or stereotype. It doesn’t have to only be for a certain type of person.
If you want to play rugby league or just get involved in some of the stuff we do, then we have something for everybody.
We have one-club mantra. You can see that within our learning disability team, who train on the same pitch as the men’s team.
We started off with 3 players and we're up to about 30 now. When the men’s players come out they all know them by their name and they high-five them.
The club makes them feel special. They all get a season ticket and they all sit in the same spot.
Those things are important, that's not just that's not ticking a box and having a learning disability team. That’s actually creating something that’s really special.
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