Bristol Bears has become the first rugby club in the world to partner with the #HerGameToo campaign, which aims to raise awareness of sexist abuse within sport. In a tweet from the Bears yesterday (August 15), the club said: "We're committed to increasing female participation in the game, ensuring an enjoyable environment for our whole community."
#HerGameToo, which is a voluntary fan-led organisation that focuses on ensuring women and girls are welcomed and respected equally within sport, was first launched in May 2021. It has already partnered with Bristol City, another of the clubs under the Bristol Sport umbrella, as well as a number of other professional football clubs.
Bristol Bears added that the commitment to 'ensure a safe and enjoyable environment for the whole community' includes women in coaching, referee and volunteer roles, as well as staff members and even spectators for the club. The club has set out a vision - 'to inspire the community through rugby success', as well as the mission above, with four key aims.
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These aims are as follows:
- Create a working group that represents our whole community, to help Bristol Bears measure and grow our HerGameToo strategy
- To increase visibility and participation provisions of rugby and Bristol Bears within Bristol – if she/they can't see, they can't be
- Eradicate and educate online abuse towards Bristol Bears Women's players
- Increase fandom of those that identify as female within Bristol
Caz May, one of the founders of Her Game Too, said: "We are so excited to take our #HerGameToo campaign into the world of rugby union and to have a club the size of Bristol Bears as our very first official partnership is a huge honour for us. We are aware that the atmosphere for spectators at rugby union games is already very family friendly - so we will be working in partnership with Bristol Bears to mainly focus on other important areas - alongside increasing and encouraging female participation in the game."
Bears Women Board Member and former England international, Sophie Halhead, added: “At Bristol Bears, we believe that rugby is a sport where everyone involved is welcomed and respected equally, so we are delighted to support the #HerGameToo campaign. Bristol Bears is committed to ensuring a safe and enjoyable environment; whether on the pitch as a player or official, on the touchline as a coach or medic, behind the scene as a staff member or volunteer, or in the stands as a spectator.
“#HerGameToo has a strong following in other sports such as cricket and football. As the first rugby club to support this campaign, we hope to raise awareness within our game, so that we can continue the campaign's momentum and ensure that rugby is safe and enjoyable for all.”
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