Young women tackle coaching inequality at rugby workshop

Barbados was the latest stop in the international Grassroots to Global series as 22 young women gathered over the weekend to tackle the issue of gender imbalance in rugby coaching. 

Backed by World Rugby, the series spans over 30 countries and is focused this year on building environments that support more women coaches. 

This is the second time Barbados has hosted the forum.

The local leg of the 2025 forum, held on May 17 and 18, aimed to equip more women with the tools to enter and thrive in coaching roles, a strategy in the push for girls’ participation in the sport. 

The event included a virtual session on the first day, followed by a full-day in-person workshop, both led by former national player Cherrise Harte.

Participants, aged 18 to 30, developed a grassroots action plan that can be implemented immediately, and contributed to the drafting of a national action plan designed to work within the island’s limited resources.

One of the participants, Jayde Adams, described the sessions as “interesting, informative and very inclusive,” while another, Emilie Trotman, said it helped to clearly outline the issues facing women in the sport.

Jessica Derrell said the forum was a “hearty and insightful discussion of the hot topics in women’s rugby,” and praised the mix of perspectives from younger and older leaders.

Alanna Quintyne added that her favourite parts included an arts and crafts exercise exploring leadership journeys, and a “mini shark tank” activity that challenged participants to pitch ideas for breaking barriers in the sport.

The national action plan developed through the event is expected to guide future efforts to create more space for women and girls in rugby coaching on the island. (SM)