Almost 100 Girls from Brighton Primary Schools Get Their First Taste of Rugby
Sports Leaders volunteers from Cardinal Newman with Holly Taylor from Hove Rugby Club, Emma Greenough from Brighton and Hove City Council and Vicky Alexander from the RFU at the girls rugby festival at Hove Rec. Photo: Brighton and Hove City Council.
Almost 100 girls from eight Brighton and Hove primary schools took part in a rugby festival at Hove Rec as part of the city's push to become the UK capital for women and girls in sport
Almost 100 girls from eight local primary schools were given their first experience of rugby at a festival held at Hove Recreation Ground in May 2026, organised by Brighton and Hove City Council in partnership with Hove Rugby Club.
The festival brought together Year 3 and Year 4 pupils for a day of T1 rugby, an inclusive non-contact format developed by World Rugby to mirror the full experience of traditional rugby union while removing the physical contact element that can be a barrier for younger and newer players. Teachers from each school were given guidance on how to deliver their own rugby sessions back in the classroom, with the aim of keeping the momentum going beyond the festival day itself.
The event was part of the council's School Games programme, which runs sporting events and competitions for primary and secondary school children across Brighton and Hove throughout the year.
Who was involved
Council staff and Hove Rugby Club coaches ran the sessions on the day, supported by volunteers from Blatchington Mill School and Cardinal Newman Catholic School as part of the city's Sports Leaders initiative. The Sports Leaders programme gives older students the opportunity to develop coaching and leadership skills by helping to run sporting activities for younger children, building confidence on both sides.
Vicky Alexander, the Rugby Football Union's Women and Girls Growth Activator for London and South East, attended the festival to see the work being done locally. Her presence reflected the broader significance of the event within the RFU's national effort to grow the women and girls game at grassroots level.
Girls who enjoyed the festival were encouraged to sign up to a new girls-only session recently launched by Hove Rugby Club, giving them a clear next step beyond the school day.
Hove Rugby Club and the women's game
Hove Rugby Club is one of the longest-established women's rugby clubs in the country. In recognition of its continued work to expand opportunities for women and girls in the sport, Brighton and Hove City Council presented the club with a signed rugby ball from last year's New Zealand versus Ireland Women's Rugby World Cup match, which took place right here in Brighton and Hove in September 2025.
The festival also marked a significant milestone for the club. Hove Rugby Club recently celebrated the tenth anniversary of the start of its girls' rugby programme by launching Hove Tigers, a new weekly session for under-nines and under-10s. A decade of girls rugby at the club has built the kind of foundation that makes events like the school festival possible, with experienced coaches, an established culture and a clear pathway for young players who want to continue.
Brighton and Hove's growing reputation in women's sport
The rugby festival sits within a much bigger picture. Brighton and Hove has spent the past several years building a serious reputation as a city that champions women's sport at every level.
The city hosted the UEFA Women's Euro 2022, generating the highest Gross Value Added of any host city at £8 million according to official council figures. It hosted matches at the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 at the Amex Stadium, with New Zealand versus Ireland played in the city. Brighton and Hove Albion Women compete in the Women's Super League, and the club reached the Women's FA Cup final in May 2026, facing Manchester City at Wembley in the club's first ever major women's cup final appearance.
There are also hopes, according to the council, that Brighton and Hove will be named as a host city for the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2035. International women's cricket is also returning to Hove later in 2026 when England take on New Zealand.
The city's track record of hosting major women's sport events is the backdrop against which the grassroots work with schools and local clubs is happening. The argument the council is making is that elite events inspire participation, and participation at school level builds the next generation of players, coaches and supporters.
Sport Lifts Her Higher
The rugby festival was one of the latest events under the council's Sport Lifts Her Higher campaign, launched in January 2026 with the aim of establishing Brighton and Hove as the UK capital for women and girls participation in sport. The campaign spans grassroots participation events like this one, work with local clubs and charities, and efforts to attract further elite women's sport to the city.
The participation gap between boys and girls in sport remains a persistent challenge nationally. Research consistently shows that girls are more likely than boys to drop out of sport in their early teenage years, and that positive early experiences of physical activity make a significant difference to whether young people remain active into adulthood. Events like the Hove festival, which bring sport directly into the school day and make it accessible and non-intimidating, are part of how that gap gets narrowed at a local level.
What the council leader said
Councillor Bella Sankey, Leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, said the event reflected the strength of work already happening across the city to create more opportunities for girls in sport.
"There is so much fantastic work being done across the city to create more opportunities for girls and Hove Rugby Club are a fantastic example of this," she said.
"As a council, we are committed to helping our local school community encourage and empower young people to get active and find a sport they love and events like our rugby festival are a key part of this.
"We know the difference being active can make and these sorts of events help us tackle the stubborn participation gap we still see between boys and girls."
For more on sport in Brighton and Hove, visit our sport section on ImJustBrighton. For the latest Brighton and Hove council news, visit ImJustBrighton.
This article is based on a Brighton and Hove City Council press release issued on 27 May 2026, sent directly to ImJustBrighton via Vuelio, and official Brighton and Hove City Council information published at brighton-hove.gov.uk.
