Italy rugby is busy preparing for the election of a new president of the FIR. There are five candidates and a further 27 up for the committee.
Of seven candidates as players‘ representatives four are women.
To help tease out the aspirations of the candidates the Italian website https://ladiesrugbyclub.blogspot.com/ has been interviewing some of them.
There is a general agreement about the need to set women’s rugby on a firmer footing: more attention to coaching girls, especially from the age of 12 when they can no longer play with the boys; developing tag rugby, especially in schools where the head, teachers or parents may have doubts about physical contact; developing girls’ and women’s sections at clubs, not least by financially rewarding the clubs that do.
Candidates foresee the development of groups in all the intermediate age-groups, from U13 upwards. Some underline the importance of schools in this regard; unlike clubs they have a captive audience.
Then at the other end of the process there is a need to increase the number of coaches and referees (a process well known in this country as Keep Your Boots On!) Without them no real progress can be expected. One candidate for the committee, Erika Morri, claims that out of a total of 688 referees nationwide, only 54 are women.
Her view sees a gradual move towards semi-professionalism, perhaps over a four-year spread. The problems inherent in this policy are well understood, but the introduction of scholarships for a number of the elite squad was a first step. Full-blown contracts still lie in the future.
A presidential candidate, Marzio Innocenti, has the advantage of having run a similar operation in Veneto, a hotbed of Italian rugby in the north-east. He sees the urgent need to develop the game in those other regions where it is still barely known.
Interestingly, he is in contact with a foreign women’s rugby circuit that would like to create a championship of international teams and is very hopeful of creating an Italian franchise. No indication of where that link might lie! Thoughts of a European club championship go back some way, but nothing definite has yet proved possible.
Candidates are full of praise for the national side which has achieved great things in recent seasons. Indeed its record is distinctly better than the men’s. Innocenti states that this is due largely to the team’s own efforts. The FIR needs to alter its attitude dramatically to give the elite women the full backing they deserve.
Italian rugby is in a fascinating position. The 6 Nations media is full of complaints every time the men’s side loses by 50 points, forgetting how long it took France to approach equality with the home nations. The Azzurre on the other hand have already proved their worth; only England remain to be beaten. They rank seventh in the world, above Ireland, Wales and Spain. The country has the population and the talent to progress sturdily towards the top of the tree. But it needs careful planning to establish a structure that will bring all the hopes to fruition.
There looks to be plenty of able competition for the position of union president, and candidates are anxious to ensure the full force of the FIR is placed behind the girls’ and women’s game.
Decision time is 13 March.
