Leicester Tigers are pleased to announce the establishment of a women's Under-23 programme as part of the club’s renewed focus on developing home-grown talent.
The programme will provide opportunities for local, aspirational women’s rugby players in the region and a clear pathway to representing the senior team in Premiership Women’s Rugby.
More than 30 players have been selected to join the U23 squad ahead of the new season, all of whom were introduced from the trial day held in May at the University of Nottingham, which was the foundation for the recently announced Performance Partnership between Leicester Tigers and the UoN Women’s rugby programme.
In addition to regular training, high-performance coaching and development opportunities, members of the squad will be invited throughout the season to train as part of the women’s senior squad. There will also be exhibition fixtures for the squad to take part in during the season.
The U23 programme will be led by Ben Duke, a member of the Leicester Tigers Community department, who will also take on a role as Skills Coach with the women’s senior squad under new Women’s Director of Rugby, Fraser Goatcher.
Alongside the Performance Partnership with UoN Women’s rugby, the club will continue to work closely with Lichfield RUFC to provide dual registration playing opportunities for members of the PWR squad, ensuring regular game time and player development, and further strengthening the pathway to becoming to a PWR player.
Further additions to the pathway programme for local and international women’s players will also be announced in the coming days.
Speaking about the Under-23s programme, Women's Director of Rugby Fraser Goatcher said: "This is a very exciting piece of our pathway programme and I am really pleased that it has been able to get going so quickly and with the support of the so many in making it happen.
“It is a key element of what we want to do; building a squad of predominantly home-grown talent, who come through the ranks at Leicester Tigers to represent the club at the highest level.
"The trial day we held in May demonstrated the immense breadth of talent across Leicestershire, and even beyond, with more than a hundred players taking part from which we have selected just over 30 to be a part of this foundation group.
“Ben is going to play a key role in what we are building at Leicester Tigers in women’s rugby and I am confident this, as well as the other parts of our pathway programme, will help drive us towards the goals we have for this club.”
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