Women in Rugby League Awarded National Lottery Funding!

The Women in Rugby League project, led by Julia Lee, one of the first women to referee men’s Rugby League in the 1980s, has been awarded £99,912 by The National Lottery Heritage Fund for a project that will uncover, document, and celebrate the history of women in Rugby League. 

Julia, who is originally from Hull, applied for funding for the next leg of the Women in Rugby League project, ‘The Pioneering Years’, a project which aims to rescue and preserve the memories and the records of the women (and their male allies) who have played and maintained women's rugby league clubs and competitions since the 1980s. It aims to ensure their achievements are remembered and their legacy is preserved so that girls and young women can learn from their experiences and discover new role models.

The project, which will be administrated by Common-sense Initiative, is made possible by National Lottery players and aims to engage with women both inside and outside of Rugby League to deliver a programme of activities that will raise the profile of the history of the women’s game.  In addition, it will celebrate the achievements of women involved in Rugby League and use the stories of rugby’s women pioneers to inspire new generations. 

Julia, Director of Common-sense Initiative, who has spent many years working to get the role of women in Rugby League recognised, said:

“It’s thanks to the generosity of National Lottery players that we have received this funding and I’m absolutely thrilled. 

“This is a project very close to my heart which will help us put a spotlight on some amazing women who have been involved in Rugby League. 

“It gives us an opportunity to ensure that the history of women in Rugby League is not lost and to uncover stories still untold.” 

The project will work alongside the Rugby Football League, local partners, and Heritage Quay at the University of Huddersfield to build the tremendous momentum of the successful Heritage Fund-supported 'Life with the Lionesses' project, which ended late in 2022 following the Women's Rugby League World Cup. This project raised the profile of women's international rugby league to its greatest-ever heights. Activities will focus in Cumbria, Lancashire, and Yorkshire, not forgetting some of the outlying areas not traditionally known for rugby league while seeking to arrange exhibitions in Barrow, Bradford, Halifax, Kirklees, Hull, Leeds, Warrington, Wigan, York, Wakefield and will include:

• create an extensive new collection about grassroots women's rugby league for the Women's Rugby League Archive’ at Huddersfield University’s Heritage Quay;
• establish a statistical record and timeline of the women's club game;
• develop a BBC 'Reunion'-style oral history podcast series in which members of women's clubs discuss their teams; 
• organise heritage 'Deep Dive' events and initiatives in key rugby league towns where women can share their memories, be interviewed, and display memorabilia and artifacts; 
• stage local exhibitions in conjunction with libraries, community groups, and clubs highlighting the story of the local women's game; and
• use these stories of past generations to inspire the next generation through talks, school visits and events with girls' rugby league teams.

Helen Featherstone, Director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund said: “It is fantastic news that we’re able to support Julia and Common Sense Initiative with this project that will build on the amazing work of ‘Life with the Lionesses’. Thanks to National Lottery players, this new project will ensure the important history of women in rugby league is celebrated and shared for years to come.”

For further information about the ‘Pioneering Years’ project contact Julia Lee on Julia.lee@csi2021.co.uk

Julia Lee

Julia was the first female to officiate men's rugby league in Great Britain and Australia and had fifteen years of experience as a Match Official reaching professional and International honours. 

She began refereeing at the age of seventeen. Throughout her career, she came under extreme resistance to her presence and dealt with the rigours of refereeing three to four games a week, the majority of which were men’s open-age matches. After only five years she became a Graded Official, finishing top in the Laws of the Game exam and passing the strenuous fitness test. Within a couple of years, she was refereeing the National Conference Premier Division, the elite of the Community Game, alongside the Colts (U19) and Alliance (First Team Reserves). Before her premature retirement, due to injury, she refereed over 500 games with accolades in the Student Game and International Honours in the women’s and men’s games. 

Alongside her Officiating career, she completed a Sports Science Degree. She was instrumental in the late 1990s in developing the Rugby League Match Official pathway in training and development. 

Julia founded Common-sense Initiative (CSI) in 2017, to inspire and empower young people and women to unlock and achieve their potential. She uses her journey and sporting experiences to engage with young people and women through life coaching, workshops, and inspirational speaking. Her end goal is to give individuals the time and space to explore their strengths, encourage curiosity, and promote personal well-being and understanding. She supports young people to reinforce positive beliefs, and ultimately, provides individuals with the self-confidence to achieve their potential. 

About The National Lottery Heritage Fund 

As the largest dedicated funder of the UK’s heritage, The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for, and sustained for everyone, now and in the future as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033. 

Over the next ten years, we aim to invest £3.6 billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to bring about benefits for people, places, and the natural environment.  

We help protect, transform, and share the things from the past that people care about, from popular museums and historic places, our natural environment and fragile species, to the languages and cultural traditions that celebrate who we are. 

We are passionate about heritage and committed to driving innovation and collaboration to make a positive difference to people’s lives today while leaving a lasting legacy for future generations to enjoy.  

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