Kerry leading way for new Munster women’s rugby model

A Kerry and Tipperary team will compete in this first weekend of Energia Community Series games alongside AIL clubs UL Bohemian and Ballincollig

“In Munster we’ve struggled to produce longevity in the adult club game outside of UL Bohs, and we’re very excited about this, that it will grow and the hope would be that numbers and standards will grow and Kerry"

There was another great leap forward for women’s rugby in Munster last night as four clubs in Tipperary committed to an amalgamated adult team to compete in the provincial league and cup in the New Year.

Thurles, Nenagh, Carrick-on-Suir and Ballina-Killaloe reached agreement yesterday to pool their resources at adult level and follow a county-based model that Wendy Keenan, chair of Munster Rugby’s Women’s Committee, has been championing. It is a model that will see a Kerry team compete in this first weekend of Energia Community Series games alongside AIL clubs UL Bohemian and Ballincollig.

After years of seeing clubs compete only fleetingly at adult level despite having strong underage programmes, Keenan is hoping the Kerry project can provide a new beacon for more sustainable success.

“It’s something we’ve been looking at for a while and the county model is something we’re passionate to pilot this year to see how successful it is,” Keenan told the Irish Examiner.

“The GAA has been very successful with it and we have struggled at the adult level to provide a sustainable model so we are hoping that this structure of clubs feeding into one adult Kerry team will provide that.

In due course, hopefully, that will lift the standard of the adult game and provide a sustainable model into the future.

“In Munster we’ve struggled to produce longevity in the adult club game outside of UL Bohs, and we’re very excited about this, that it will grow and the hope would be that numbers and standards will grow and Kerry will go on to have an AIL team as well having Munster Division One and even a development team.

“That’s a structure we’re hoping will work and we’re working with Tipperary now, with Thurles and the clubs around Thurles, to do the same type of model. We’ll do it at Munster level this year and fingers crossed that will grow as well.

“And if this model works it’s something we’ll look to replicate in East Cork. There’s no reason why it can’t work across the province. So fingers crossed.

“We’re the first in the country to try it so let’s watch this space. We’re trying to look forward and do things a little bit differently to see does it work, so we won’t know unless we try and we’re going to try it.”

In Kerry the hope is it will cement women’s rugby in the Kingdom’s sporting landscape for the benefit of the province.

“The tried and trusted model of each club trying to do it would only work for a couple of years and then it would just fall away,” Kerry’s head coach Kieran Reilly said, “so this is coming from a different angle and filtering everyone at senior level into one team and representing everyone at that level.

“Everyone was fully supportive of having a Kerry team, one team representing them. It’s a transition from clubs into a regional team and we’re very focused on playing these Munster Community Series games and going around to different clubs. We’ve trained in Tralee, in Abbeyfeale and will also be playing games in Abbeyfeale and Listowel, It means each club is represented and shows girls at under-age levels within each club that there’s a pathway to playing at the highest level. It’s great and a great experience for everyone involved.”

Built initially around a nucleus of Tralee RFC players, Kerry will open its account on Sunday against Ballincollig while a newly amalgamated Shannon/LIT team will meet AIL kingpins UL Bohs in a Limerick derby.

“It’s a great set-up for us in terms of testing where we’re at in terms of our development,” Reilly added, “because our objective in two or three years or whenever the opportunity comes along is to go to the AIL.

“It’s baby steps at the moment and our focus is on getting out on the pitch but we’re looking to build relationships and arrangements with all the clubs and getting around the county to help each club build their own female age-grade teams.

“I’m very confident we can play with the big teams in AIL. The talent is here and we’re putting in place the arrangements to make it sustainable in terms of player development and facilities. We’re fully focused on this plan of being ready to go whenever we’re asked.

We have the motivation from coaches and players to be the best version of themselves on the rugby pitch.