YSJ Women's Rugby

🏆YO1 RADIO SPORTS AWARDS🏆
For those who have not seen we have been nominated and we are a finalist for the YO1 Radio Diversity and inclusivity award!🏉

Creating an environment where everyone feels welcome, supported and able to enjoy rugby has always been at the heart of our club. To have that recognised alongside some amazing finalists means a huge amount to us.

Thank you to every player, coach, supporter and committee member who helps make our club what it is 💙

CLUB OF THE YEAR 2025/2026
🏆YSJ SPORTS AWARD WINNER🏆
What a season!! From winning New Club of the Year last year to now being named Club of the Year, the biggest sporting award, this team has achieved more than we could have imagined.

Two years ago there were around 15 people in this club. Today there are 60+ members, millions of social media views, wins we never thought possible, and memories that will last long after the season ends.

We beat teams we’d never beaten before. We raised money for charity. We gained a coach. We showed up for other clubs. We created opportunities, friendships, and a place people wanted to belong. Attended events and have been nominated for external awards we weren’t even aware were possible.

But the biggest achievement isn’t the numbers or results. We built a family, a community, and something people want to be part of.
More than a club.

COACH OF THE YEAR
🏆YSJ SPORTS AWARD WINNER🏆
Gary Hawley our amazing coach has won the Coach of the Year award and has been congratulated on his amazing effort, dedication and impact on our team for this year. As a volunteer who travels his effort is undeniably inspiring.

Gary has always ensured every member feels included and welcomed and his impact on this team is so noticeable from our sense of family and community to our amazing performance and technique on the field. We are so lucky to have him as our Coach and to have someone who sees potential in everyone, thankyou and congratulations!

OUTSTANDING DIGITAL PRESENCE
🏆YSJ AWARD WINNER 2025/2026🏆

With over 1000 followers gained on instagram and TikTok, YSJ Women’s Rugby has maintained a fantastic digital reach across numerous platforms. Videos over the last year reaching 3 million views on instagram and 1 million on TikTok as well as over 200k likes across both platforms aswell. Making over 100 TikTok’s this year and consistently posting every week, We have strived to make the game blow up online and make our presence known within our community and the wider sporting one. We ensure that all our platforms demonstrate our inclusion and performance.

We are more than proud and grateful to accept this award and we cannot wait to continue pushing forward the women’s game online!

💙MANCHESTER SEVENS💙
Yesterday a squad of 12 of us travelled to Manchester for the and played 5 games! Unfortunately we lost to Sheffield 25-10 and Sheffield Hallam 25-12 then we faced Manchester Golds with a score of 22-12. Our greatest game was against Liverpool with a fantastic win of 27-15. We made it to the final of the intermediate plate but unfortunately lost last minute against Sheffield again but it was much closer with a score of 15-10.

The entire day was fantastic! We are so proud of all our members for trying 7s for the first time and putting up an unbelievable fight in every game despite the intense weather☀️ Throughout the day the girls progressed and it was so fun to watch them compete!

We will definitely be returning next year! 💙

💙🏆SPORTS AWARDS NOMINEES🏆💙
We are so excited and proud to announce that we have been nominated 14 times for 12 separate awards! With our club being nominated for Club of the Year, Inclusive Practice for the second year in a row and our amazing Captain Mia Winks and Social Media Victoria Powlay being nominated for sports personality for a second year in a row too! 🥳🏆

We are more than grateful and proud to have been nominated for Charity champion, Collaboration Award, Outstanding Digital Practice, Outstanding Inclusive Practice, Outstanding Achievement in Sports, the Most Improved Team, the Progress Award and Club of the Year!!!

Not only that but our Amazing coach Gary Hawley is up for Coach of the Year alongside our captain Mia Winks! In addition Gary is also up for an award for his constituency through Belper RUFC for volunteering 🤩Holly Honour is making us so proud by also being nominated for most committed non-committee member! 🥳

We have truly outdone ourselves this year and we so happy that the Sports Union has recognised the effort, dedication and commitment we have had this year in creating a fun, safe and inclusive environment! We have also put endless hours into improving our playing ability and our position in the league! Can’t wait to find out the results on Friday 15th May! See you there! 🤩

🏉 ENGLAND UNIVERSITY NOMINEE🏉
We have been shortlisted as a nominee for the ‘Rugby for All’ EDI Award for the England University Awards! This is amazing news and we are super proud and grateful to be part of a sporting community that allows us to celebrate inclusion and diversity!

As the York St John current Inclusive Practice award winners we are proud to show that we have continued our commitment to including students all around the York area. Our club has always been founded on the idea of promoting fairness, fostering inclusive environments and representation, so to be nominated for such a great award is really fantastic to see.

We will be present at the Development Day on the 5th of May to find out the winners! Even if we do not win we are over the moon with this amazing opportunity and recognition.

💙LAST MATCH RESULTS💙
Unfortunately we did not win our last match of the season however we had a great game despite some crazy weather changes and not having our usual full squad! This was our last years final games and we wanted to let them know how great the are as players, teammates and friends! We are wishing them the best of luck in the future and hopefully we should see some good things from them in other clubs 👀

This has been truly a fantastic season with some of the most beautiful amazing players, we want to thank all the players, members and supporters who helped this season, and our wonderful coach Gary! Although the last game did not end the season how we wanted it to we are so incredibly proud of everyone and we can’t wait to see what the summer and next season brings us!

💙🧡VARSITY RESULTS🧡💙
Unfortunately this year we did not win our game against Sunderland or take the varsity trophy back, however this does not reflect on the teams success and effort throughout the day. It was a really close match throughout and the girls put one hell of a shift in! 🥳

This was the last varisty for many of our third years and they all have had an amazing couple of years with the club! As well as playing fantastic in this game🥳

It was such a sunny day and the girls had an amazing time playing, supporting, watching our game and other games! Thankyou to whoever came to watch and support and congrats to on their win! See you guys next year!! 🏉

💙🧡VARSITY🧡💙
Tomorrow we face off with for the clash of the minsters! It should be a sunny day so don’t forget your sunglasses ☀️ Can’t wait to have some fun with a massive squad to give the girls some good game time 🏉 we kick off at 11am at New Earswick Rugby Club which will have shuttle busses going to and from Haxby throughout the day.

Win or lose on the booze 🤑