Alumni Foundation Report - Sheffield University Ladies Rugby Team

Having received £800 last year from the Alumni Fund, we would like to express our gratitude as a club for the funding, as it was put to good use and has made a real difference to the club. We used some of the funding to help us to make the fixtures comfortably (by hiring coaches), and have additional money set aside in the account, which will be focused on training and kit. This was important as we aimed to remain in the Premier league, and so needed to have access to quality training venues (we spent approx £2000 last year for access to the 3G pitches at Goodwin) and equipment such as bosh bags. This clearly all paid off as we remained in the Northern Premiership, and hope to achieve greater things this year!

Not only did the first team benefit from the funding, it is clear how the development team did as well. The club could afford to pay for pitches and refs for the development fixtures, which improved the new members on both the knowledge and playing ability of the game – this year people are able to step up to the first team as they received great training and match experience last year. It also encouraged new members to put themselves forward to committee, and get involved with the running of the club, ensuring that the club’s reputation is upheld for many more years!