An Interview with Georgie Perris-Redding of Sale Sharks Rugby
Women's rugby is one of sport's great success stories. The sport has seen a 60 per cent increase in participation globally since 2013, with girls and women now making up a quarter of all players worldwide. Participation levels are at an all-time high with 2.7 million players globally and a 28 per cent increase in registered players since 2017. Every weekend across the United Kingdom, women lace up their boots, pop in their gum shields and run, ruck, tackle, maul and scrum – all in the name of their favourite sport - rugby. It has become one of the country’s fastest-growing female sports, with over 30,000 women and girls playing regularly at a club.
We are Girls in Sport had the pleasure of interviewing the inspiring rugby player, Georgie Lilly Perris-Redding. Not only is she a star rugby player for Sale Sharks rugby club, Georgie also works for Sale Sharks as a Community Coordinator. In this interview we speak to Georgie about the positivity she sees around women’s sport at the moment, especially women’s rugby. She says that “challenging stereotypes must not end, sport is a powerful tool for change. Players are role models and will continue to grow the game and inspire others.”
1. Georgie, please tell us about yourself. How did you get started on the pitch?
Good question! So, I’ve been playing Rugby for a few years now. I’m now 23 but I actually started playing when I was 7/8. I played with the boys for a good couple of years and I was the only girl on the team. My mum used to make me wear a scrum hat and so the referee always thought I was a boy too. As I got older my local team didn’t have a girls’ team and so I had nowhere to go. At my age, it wasn’t cool for girls to play rugby and that affected me. I stopped playing rugby and took up trampolining instead.
When I was 18 years old, I discovered a local women’s rugby team- so I thought I would go down and see what I thought. I knew my trampolining and athletics had kept my speed up and in good shape, but I didn’t take it too seriously and just went down to play every Sunday or so. I soon ended up being invited down to the local championship team in Waterloo, who then ended up in the premiership- and that’s how I’ve ended up where I am really.
I’m now playing for Sale Sharks Women, a new premiership team. I’ve normally played centre/wing, but I’ve recently made the transition to back row- we’ll see how it goes but so far, I’m loving it!
2. What do you really enjoy about the game? How does it feel when you’re on the pitch?
I love the fact that it’s a team game. Trampolining can be a lonely sport sometimes, but with rugby you’re constantly surrounded by teammates, and you have this fantastic support network. For me, a huge selling point for rugby is that anybody can play, any sex and any size. I’m far too aggressive for netball, and so rugby is just the sport for me. I was always very small and petite, and around that 21/22 age I had this stereotype that women are not meant to be muscular. Now I’ve moved to backrow I’ve had to get stronger and bigger. I realise now that the body can do amazing things, lifting weights and so on, and that should be celebrated! Not only in men but in women as well. I think what is important is that we encourage the younger generation now to celebrate their bodies, so they don’t have to battle those stereotypes. In all the coaching I do, I try to encourage that what you are is ok- what ever size you are is good for rugby!
3. Not only are you on the pitch playing, but you’re also there coaching. How did your development camp over the summer go?
I came off furlough in July 2020 and we started the camp, obviously abiding to government guidelines and local restriction guidelines. Amazingly, despite the pandemic, we managed to deliver every Rugby camp. We had some really successful girl’s development days, and though our numbers were unfortunately restricted, we had a great fun!
Our camps ranger from U13’s to U18’s- and something I love to see is the U18’s acting as role models for those younger girls who are inspired to do their best in rugby. Recent campaigns are aimed at battling stereotypes in women’s sport and we act as real role models for these young girls. There are a huge variety of role models for girls in rugby now, which is amazing.
4. What do you think the media can do to show more women’s sport in general?
I was on ITV recently and there was a lot of negativity around the coverage that women’s sport get. However, I do think it’s getting better and both the media and clubs are really pushing for that. I think the more people we get playing the sport, the more funding we can get and the more we can see women’s sports grow. The coverage does need to be better, and the more we can work with men’s sport, the more recognition women’s sport can get!
5. One of the things we find at WAGIS is that when a young girl wants to try a sport, they turn to those sports traditionally perceived to be for girls. We want girls to realise they can try anything. How can we encourage girls to not be afraid by rugby?
One thing we have recently started is bringing rugby to young girls. By going out to them, going into schools and community groups, we show girls that despite financial difficulties and other implications, everyone can try rugby. We want to offer as much opportunity to young girls, by handing them the chance so they don’t have to find it themselves. Rugby is inclusive to everybody- no matter the background you come from, no matter your gender. There should be no stereotype around rugby, and we need to show more young girls that.
Times are changing for young girls. By really hammering down the strong, powerful role models, we can show girls its good to be strong and it’s good to be fit.
“I can’t imagine my life without rugby. It’s what I do, and I love it.”
More About Sharks Community Trust
Sharks Community Trust aims to use the core values of Rugby Union to make a positive impact on the community across Greater Manchester and the North West. This is achieved by providing high quality education, health and social inclusion programmes and increasing participation in Rugby Union and other sporting activities.
This includes running high quality programmes such as,
Educational Primary School Programmes
Mental Health Programmes to workplaces and schools
Veterans Programmes
Disability & Inclusive Sport Programmes
Educational programmes for young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEET).
Rugby Development Camps
Coach Education
Sale Sharks Community Trust - Key facts
In 2019,
They worked with over 1000 disabled people
Two Sale Sharks Community Trust staff were shortlisted for national awards
The HITZ and Advantage programme helped over 100 young people gain a job or a place on an apprenticeship
They worked with over 4500 young players and coaches across the North West to develop grassroots participation in the game
Over 4,850 children in local primary schools across the region benefited from Trust delivery