{"id":202,"date":"2025-04-30T12:21:12","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T11:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/megan-davis\/?p=202"},"modified":"2025-05-08T11:46:53","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T10:46:53","slug":"local-rugby-captain-speaks-out-against-gender-inequality-at-lincolnshire-sports-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/megan-davis\/2025\/04\/30\/local-rugby-captain-speaks-out-against-gender-inequality-at-lincolnshire-sports-club\/","title":{"rendered":"Women\u2019s U21 Rugby Team Relocated To Alternate Pitch During Easter Semi-Finals To Accommodate Boys\u2019 Match"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A rugby captain from Deeping Rugby Union, a local under 21\u2019s team in Lincolnshire, is speaking out against what she describes as ongoing gender inequality within her sports club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video height=\"268\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 480 \/ 268;\" width=\"480\" controls src=\"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/megan-davis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24108\/2025\/04\/trim.C093ADCD-9C53-4F46-BD0D-53022789279B.mov\"><\/video><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Under 21\u2019s team in action <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Team captain Amy Ingram, age 20, was left frustrated during the Easter league semi-finals when her team was unexpectedly displaced from their pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe girls and I were preparing for our semi-final match when the manager came in and told us our pitch had been given to the boys\u2019 rugby team,\u201d said Ingram. \u201cIt was outrageous \u2014 it felt like their match was considered more important than ours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ingram said this isn\u2019t an isolated incident. She recalled another time when the team\u2019s changing rooms were taken to accommodate a visiting boys&#8217; football squad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe were left cramped in a small, shed-like room while the away team had our facilities,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s disappointing, and sadly not surprising anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite national efforts to address inequality, such issues persist at the local level. The UK Department for Education has urged schools and sports clubs to ensure equal support and resources for both girls\u2019 and boys\u2019 teams, warning that imbalanced treatment sends the wrong message about gender equality in sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet, a recent report by&nbsp;Women in Sport, in partnership with the&nbsp;Youth Sport Trust, revealed that only 56% of girls enjoy taking part in sport, compared to 71% of boys \u2014 a gap many attributes to ongoing disparities in resources, attention, and encouragement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Our female rugby players have been inspiring a generation. They are strong, resilient and powerful. Let&#39;s celebrate their skills, tactics and teamwork on the pitch.  They have nothing else to prove.  <br><br>We wholeheartedly agree with you Polly Hudson: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jXptpwAt1C\">https:\/\/t.co\/jXptpwAt1C<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Women in Sport (@Womeninsport_uk) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Womeninsport_uk\/status\/1808242627227406520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 2, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Instagram account&nbsp;She Scores, which highlights stories of women in football, also commented on the issue. The anonymous account manager said: \u201cWe love celebrating how far women\u2019s football has come, but there\u2019s still a long way to go. People say no one cares about women\u2019s football \u2014 so who are all those fans cheering from the sidelines every week?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As visibility and support for women\u2019s sports grow, many feel the structural issues still haven\u2019t caught up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"828\" height=\"461\" src=\"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/megan-davis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24108\/2025\/04\/06727C7A-90AB-47C5-AD68-11F0575AE403.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-213\" srcset=\"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/megan-davis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24108\/2025\/04\/06727C7A-90AB-47C5-AD68-11F0575AE403.jpeg 828w, https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/megan-davis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24108\/2025\/04\/06727C7A-90AB-47C5-AD68-11F0575AE403-300x167.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/megan-davis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24108\/2025\/04\/06727C7A-90AB-47C5-AD68-11F0575AE403-768x428.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 828px) 100vw, 828px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Image of Under 21\u2019s team, image credit: Amy Ingram<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When asked how these experiences impact her and her teammates, Ingram said: \u201cHonestly, it\u2019s demoralising. We train just as hard as the boys, we commit just as much time, yet it constantly feels like we\u2019re second-best. It\u2019s not just about fairness \u2014 it\u2019s about respect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ingram is now calling for her club to provide equal access to pitches and facilities, hoping her voice will prompt real change. \u201cIt\u2019s not just for our team; it\u2019s for all the teams that are still to come after us\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite progress made in the women\u2019s game, Amy\u2019s story is a powerful reminder that the road to true equality in sport is far from over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People are finally starting to move away from the outdated concepts regarding women and sport, which is great to see. But even though things are improving, there\u2019s still a lot of work to do to challenge the stereotypes and&nbsp;make sports&nbsp;truly equal for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A rugby captain from Deeping Rugby Union, a local under 21\u2019s team in Lincolnshire, is speaking out against what she describes as ongoing gender inequality within her sports club. Team captain Amy Ingram, age 20, was left frustrated during the Easter league semi-finals when her team was unexpectedly displaced from their pitch. \u201cThe girls and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":260,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/megan-davis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/megan-davis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/megan-davis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/megan-davis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/260"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/megan-davis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/megan-davis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/megan-davis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/megan-davis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/megan-davis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}