Report by Bradley Rice
WOODRUSH Wolverines have struck gold in persuading World Cup winning flanker Heather Fisher to get on board and put the girls through their paces.
The Woodrush women are approaching their first competitive season and who better to whip them into shape than a current England international.
“I thought it was important to get the girls involved,” Heather said. “What Woodrush are doing is fantastic, more clubs should follow their example and support women’s rugby.
‘For me I want to help them as much as possible. I want to improve the basics, work on enhancing their skill levels and increasing their fitness.”
Heather is more than happy to lend her expertise to the women at Woodrush Rugby Club and believes sharing her own experiences is a great way for the girls to learn the game.
“I think it’s really nice to be able to pass on your knowledge. As an England player you learn so much from the people around you.
“You are constantly learning. So if I can share my know-how with others and inspire women to take up the sport, then brilliant.
“If I can help improve not only somebody’s game but their life in general, then that can only be a positive thing.
“It’s not about me, it’s not about getting satisfaction out of being here, it’s all about helping these girls to get better.
“That’s what I enjoy, even if they can’t execute what I am asking them to do, but they show that they are listening and will go away and practice, then that’s good enough for me.”
Heather feels this is a great time for women to start getting involved in rugby and acknowledges that the sport is growing at an alarmingly fast rate.
“Women’s rugby is one of the fastest growing sports.” She said. “Across the world it is only going in one direction and that’s up.
“It’s now about getting the numbers involved, I think a lot of girls get afraid of the contact.
“But if you teach it the right way and get female coaches who have come from playing backgrounds, then the women understand better what we are trying to do.
The England flanker recognises that there is a different mentality that needs to be addressed when it comes to teaching rugby to women.
“There is a similarity between coaching guys and girls, at the end of the day, we’re all rugby players,” she said.
“But I feel, guys have had more exposure to different sports from a younger age, whereas the females haven’t had that.
“We need to look at increasing the exposure time so that the girls can see better what it is we are trying to achieve and create.”
Bradley Rice can be found writing for his blog – Half-Time Oranges – where he provides original insights into the beautiful game from a number of different angles, all sharing the same trend of focusing on real stories from real people.
He can also be found providing live tweets and content for Solihull Moors Academy side @MoorsAcademy
