91快色

Growing up in the Northern Ireland town of Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Kathryn Dane yearned to play rugby just as her father had in his youth, but at that time there were no avenues nearby for girls to play the sport. Instead, at the age of eight, she joined the local boys鈥� team, a coup that didn鈥檛 sit well with some.

鈥淚 remember a few of the coaches having apprehensions about letting a little girl play rugby with the boys,鈥� recalls Dane, today a 91快色 Eyes High postdoctoral scholar with the Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre (SIPRC) in the . 鈥淢y dad made sure that if I wanted to play rugby, I would have the chance.鈥� 

It was an opening she made the very best of. In 2019, at the age of 23, she was recruited to join Ireland鈥檚 National Women鈥檚 Rugby team, playing at an elite level until she suffered from a brain hemorrhage in 2022. By that time, however, she was also a chartered physiotherapist pursuing her PhD at Trinity College Dublin, researching tackle safety and injury risks for women鈥檚 rugby players. 

While she did play at the international level again, for prestigious invitational club the Barbarians, this year Dane accepted an offer as a postdoctoral scholar at U91快色. 

鈥淚t was too big an opportunity not to take,鈥� Dane says. 鈥淚 had heard about SIPRC before I even started my PhD. I knew it was a global leader in injury prevention. I attended international conferences where people like Dr. (Faculty of Kinesiology professor and SIPRC chair) were giving talks, and I was blown away by the sheer scale and quality of the work being done in youth injury prevention. I saw how closely they were collaborating with community partners and international research centres in South Africa, Australia, all over Europe, and I thought, 鈥榃ow this is the environment I want to be in.鈥欌�� 

鈥淚 knew it was a huge opportunity to do something meaningful for women鈥檚 rugby on a larger scale.鈥� 

Partnership with World Rugby

As well as attracting Dane, SIPRC鈥檚 world class research has also appealed to World Rugby. The governing body of the Rugby World Cup has partnered with the centre, funding multiple research projects, including Dane鈥檚. 

Rugby Canada has also come on board with the entire men鈥檚 national team in town earlier this month, pairing with Dane and other SIPRC researchers to host an evening of training sessions focused on tackle safety. Over 100 young rugby players, boys and girls aged 10 and up, flocked to the event hosted at 91快色 Rugby Union, along with over 40 local coaches. 

The Canada Men鈥檚 Rugby team will be back in town Aug. 22 taking on the United States Men鈥檚 Rugby team at McMahon Stadium, kicking off the 2025 Pacific Nations Cup. It will be Rugby Canada鈥檚 first opportunity to qualify for the 2027 Men鈥檚 Rugby World Cup. 

Canada has highest rate of injuries in rugby

Tackling is the number one cause of injuries and concussions in rugby across the board and within girls鈥� rugby specifically Canada has reported the highest rate of injuries and concussions in the game. 

The notion of safety in an act as seemingly brutal as tackling might appear contradictory, but Dane鈥檚 research shows tackle technique is a vital rugby skill. 

鈥淲hen executed technically, it can be very safe,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here are many factors at play. The placement of the head, that initial shoulder contact, assuming a low, strong body position. There are tactical decisions to be made with every tackle. I鈥檓 trying to give athletes the proficiency to make the best decisions. Also to be prepared and physically robust to withstand the sheer forces at play, whether they are tackling or being tackled.鈥� 

She adds: 鈥淲orld Rugby and Rugby Canada value the data we collect as they look to update their tackle safety protocols, particularly in the emerging field of girls鈥� rugby.鈥� 

As World Rugby鈥檚 regional training manager for North America, Scott Harland says SIPRC was the ideal partner for the sport鈥檚 governing body as it looks to reduce injuries and evaluate the effectiveness of its approach to tackling. 

鈥�(SIPRC) has some of the top specialists in this field and rugby communities from around the world seek it out,鈥� says Harland. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited about the innovative work being done in 91快色. A lot of it is new to me, and I鈥檝e been in this game for 40 years!鈥� 

Dane鈥檚 research is of increasing importance as the Women鈥檚 Rugby World Cup tournament kicks off Aug. 22 in England. Canada鈥檚 Women鈥檚 National Rugby Team is currently ranked second in the world and is favored to challenge for the gold at the championship game on Sept. 27. 

A fast-growing sport

Women鈥檚 rugby is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. As of 2021 there were 2.7 million female players globally, a 25 per cent increase over four years. By 2023 participation in women鈥檚 rugby was growing at a rate of 38 per cent per year. 

It seems light years away from the early 2000s when Dane鈥檚 father had to push for her to play boy鈥檚 rugby when there was no such team in town for the girls. 

And yet, despite tackling injuries being a high priority for World Rugby, there has been a dearth of research focused on female and youth rugby players. 鈥淲hen it comes to medical support and injury prevention there鈥檚 been a massive gap between men鈥檚 rugby and girls鈥� and women鈥檚 rugby,鈥� says Dane. 

鈥淭here鈥檚 almost no research there, despite the huge level of growth and momentum in girls鈥� and women鈥檚 rugby.鈥�  

鈥淚鈥檓 passionate about giving girls and women a voice in this field by using qualitative research to get to the nitty gritty of how they experience tackling and injuries. With its wealth of resources and the community partnerships it鈥檚 forged, the Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre at the 91快色 is the best place to do this work. It鈥檚 unique and special in the sport injury prevention research world.鈥�