“Over 40%” of Touch Luxembourg’s licensed players are women, the organisation has said ahead of International Women’s Sports Day, which will be held later this month.
Touch Luxembourg, the country’s national association for the sport of touch rugby, stated in a press announcement: “Most people associate rugby as a male-dominated sport, but this is simply not true. Rugby comes in many forms, from the highly physical codes of league and union to the lower contact versions such as touch.”
Touch rugby is a non-contact form of the game played by mixed-gender and mixed-age teams. “With the tackle replaced by a simple touch, the accessibility of the sport to all ages and genders has meant that it has grown especially in Australia, New Zealand, and England to the extent there are over 700,000 players in Australia and 100,000 in the UK,” Touch Luxembourg said on 15 January 2024.
Junior touch squad
There are “over 40 U16 touch players,” including 27 girls, playing on Luxembourg’s largest touch team, RCL Lightning. “This critical mass of female players within a safe club environment has allowed many of our older juniors to gain competitive experience in the Belgium National Mixed League,” the association stated.
“Our goal in the coming years is to have a junior national team playing in an international U15 mixed team, leading to women’s and mixed teams playing in international competitions. Ironically the success of our girls will be helped by overcoming current biases in the Luxembourg sporting community and recruiting more boys. As counterintuitive as that might seem, the mixed route creates a better sporting dynamic for many young people.”
Senior touch teams
The rules for the annual RCL Corporate Touch League state that “over half of the players on the pitch at any time must be female,” the association said. “This, combined with the positive influence of the growth in junior girls that is starting to spill over into adult women, results in the RCL Lightning Club having just over 25% female athletes. At the newly formed Terres Rouges touch club in Dudelange, the percentages might be slightly higher as partners, mums and daughters join together to play in Dudelange giving it a real ‘family’ feel.”
“We feel that the key to this success has been the hard work of our club coaches at RCL and Terres Rouges to create a safe positive environment where female players of all ages can compete on an equal level to all the other players,” Nick Frank, president of Touch Luxembourg, stated in the association’s announcement.
Get involved
Women and girls interested in learning more about the sport or joining a touch rugby club can attend RCL Lightning’s “ladies night” informational event on Tuesday 23 January at 7:30pm at the Boy Konen sports ground in Cessange; contact Rugby Club Luxembourg in Cessange via [email protected] or Rugby Club Terres Rouges in Dudelange at [email protected]; or check Luxembourg Touch’s or .