The Scottish Women's Rugby Union (SWRU) is the national governing body for women's rugby union

Women's rugby union

Women's rugby union is a sport identical to the men's game with the same rules, same sized pitch, and same equipment. However, it has a history which is significantly different, due to various social pressures, and the self-image of rugby union in general...

 in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It is responsible for the governance of women's rugby union within Scotland. Its role is all encompassing. It goes from youth recruitment, through administrating all senior based (aged 16+) competition, through to the performance and management of the Scotland women's national rugby union team

Scotland women's national rugby union team

The Scotland national women's rugby union team are the national women's rugby union team of Scotland. The Scots have competed in three of the Women's Rugby World Cups and have an important role in the rugby world stage....

.

The SWRU's counterpart is the Scottish Rugby Union

Scottish Rugby Union

The Scottish Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. It is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873, as the Scottish Football Union.-History:...

 which is the national governing body for men's rugby in Scotland.

Executive Board

The SWRU is led by a volunteer based Executive Board. Board members are elected at the Annual General Meeting

Annual general meeting

An annual general meeting is a meeting that official bodies, and associations involving the public , are often required by law to hold...

 (AGM) at June each year. The posts are annual in nature with the exception of the Chairperson, whose post is held for 2 years. Board members have to be affiliated with a women's rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 club.

NB. The Executive Board was renamed from the Executive Committee in the 2007 AGM.

Season 2007-2009

• Chairperson and Scottish Rugby Union Council - Sandra Kinnear, Lismore WRFC
• Vice-Chair - Rosy Hume, Murrayfield Wanderers WRFC
• Secretary - Kate Ho, Edinburgh University LRFC
• Domestic Fixtures Coordinator - Beth Dickens, Murrayfield Wanderers WRFC
• Historian and Veteran Representative - Kath Vass, Watsonians WRFC
• Student Coordinator - Claire Fergusson, RHC Cougars
• Youth Coordinator - Louise Dalgeish, RHC Cougars

Season 2006-2007

• Chairperson and Scottish Rugby Union
  Scottish Rugby Union
  The Scottish Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. It is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873, as the Scottish Football Union.-History:...
  
   Council - Sandra Kinnear, Lismore WRFC
• Vice-Chair - Susan Young, Watsonians WRFC
• Secretary - Kate Ho, Edinburgh University LRFC
• Domestic Fixtures Coordinator - Beth Dickens, Murrayfield Wanderers WRFC
• International Fixtures Coordinator - Kath Vass, Watsonians WRFC
• Student's Representative - Anna Panayotopoulos, Edinburgh University LRFC
• Youth Fixtures Coordinator - Louise Dalgeish, Royal High Corstorphine WRFC
• Ordinary Member - Allan Douglas, Murrayfield Wanderers WRFC

Previous committee members

• Clare Murray, Secretary, 2004–2006
• Ali MacKenize, Treasurer, 2005–2006
• Lesley Robertson, Youth Coordinator, 2004-6
• Ainsley Rawlings, International Coordinator, 2002–2004
• Emma-Beth Wilson, Student's Representative, 2001–2003
• Sheena Buchan, Treasurer, 2001–2002
• Fiona Shanks, Student's Representative, 2000–2001

Full time staff

In addition to the volunteer Executive Board, three full time staff based at the Scottish Rugby Union

Scottish Rugby Union

The Scottish Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. It is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873, as the Scottish Football Union.-History:...

 assists with the planning and delivery of the women's rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 programme throughout Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. From 2001-2005 only 2 posts existed, the Women's Administration Manager and the Girls Development Officer. As of late 2005, in conjunction with the Scottish Rugby Union

Scottish Rugby Union

The Scottish Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. It is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873, as the Scottish Football Union.-History:...

, the two posts were re-purposed, with another one created as a result. The new staffing structure consisted of a Community Manager, a Performance Development Manager (responsible for the performance pathways programme) and a Women's Development Officer (responsible for Youth and Senior rugby).

Current full time staff

• Jo Wells, Women's Community Manager, appointed July 2006–present
• Jo Hull, National Performance Development Manager (women's), appointed Jan 2006–present
• Car Stevenson, Women's Development Officer, appointed 2008–present

Previous full time staff

• Barbara Wilson, First SWRU Administration Manager, 2001–2006
• Beth MacLeod, First SWRU Girls Development Manager, 2001–2005
• Claire Cruikshank, Youth Development Administrator, 2004–2006

National Competitions

As of season 2010 - 2011, there are four divisions within the Scottish league: Premier League 1, Premier League 2, National League and the National Development League.

Premier League 1

Premier League consists of 6 clubs (in alphabetical order):

• Edinburgh University
• University of Dundee
  University of Dundee
  The University of Dundee is a university based in the city and Royal burgh of Dundee on eastern coast of the central Lowlands of Scotland and with a small number of institutions elsewhere....
  
  
• Hillhead/Jordanhill
• Murrayfield Wanderers
• Royal High Corstorphine
• Watsonians

Premier League 2

Premier League 2 consists of 6 clubs (in alphabetical order):

• Aberdeenshire Quines
• Cartha Queen's Park
• Glasgow University
• Kirkcaldy
  Kirkcaldy
  Kirkcaldy is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. The town lies on a shallow bay on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth; SSE of Glenrothes, ENE of Dunfermline, WSW of Dundee and NNE of Edinburgh...
  
  
• Melrose
• Morgan

National League

The National League consists of 8 clubs (in alphabetical order):

• Broughton
• Edinburgh University 2nds
• Grangemouth (http://www.grangemouthrfc.co.uk)
• Lismore
• Oban Lorne
• Royal Dick Veterinary College
  Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies
  The Royal School of Veterinary Studies, commonly referred to as the Dick Vet, is the veterinary school of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.Professor Elaine Watson has been head of the school since 1 August, 2003 .-History:...
  
  
• Saints, The (Madras College FP RFC
  Madras College FP RFC
  Madras College Former Pupils Rugby Football Club is a rugby union side based in St Andrews in Fife, Scotland. They will play in Caledonia Regional League Division 2 midlands in Season 2011/12. They play at Station Park, St Andrews and field two men's fifteens each weekend, as well as a women's team...
  
  )
• Stirling County

National Development League

The National Development League (NDL) consists of a number of clubs which include (in alphabetical order):

• Berwick
• Lasswade
• Stirling University
• Strathaven
• Strathclyde University

National 7s competition

Annually, there is a National 7s competition traditionally held on the first weekend of May. For the previous five years, it has been held at Portobello Rugby Club in Edinburgh. The normal format is for teams to be split into two pools, with semi-finalists chosen through the top 2 winners of the pools.

Scottish Universities Championship

The Scottish Universities Championship is not run by the SWRU, instead it is administered by the British University and Colleges Sport.

Winners:

• 2008 - 2009 : University of St Andrews
  University of St Andrews
  The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...
  
  
• 2007 - 2008 : Glasgow University
• 2006 - 2007 : Edinburgh University
• 2005 - 2006 : Edinburgh University

Representative Rugby

In the season 2006-7, there are 4 tiers of women's representative teams, in order:

• Scotland Women's
  Scotland women's national rugby union team
  The Scotland national women's rugby union team are the national women's rugby union team of Scotland. The Scots have competed in three of the Women's Rugby World Cups and have an important role in the rugby world stage....
  
  , the national team
• Scotland Women's Development, a development team which acts as a feeder to the national team
• Scotland Academy, a squad consisting of players which attend a number of skills clinics
• Scotland U18s, the Under 18s team

These teams are run and managed by the SWRU.

External links

• Scottish Women's Rugby Union website
• 2006 WRWC Homepage
• 247.tv - Live video and replays of all the Women's Rugby World Cup matches