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Ellingham & Ringwood RFC’s women’s team seals landmark Vissensa deal




Ellingham & Ringwood women’s team will be kitted out from top to toe after the largest investment in the club’s history.

The partnership with IT firm Vissensa launched a joint effort to improve women’s rugby’s future, with the team benefiting from new kits and future investment and support expected.

Ellingham & Ringwood women's team in their new kits
Ellingham & Ringwood women's team in their new kits

Steve Groom, chief executive at Vissensa, said: “When Mark Johnson [director at Ellingham & Ringwood] started speaking about the women’s first team, he said some of them turn up with supermarket carrier bags with their kit in. And from that, I immediately said we want to make a difference.

“So instead of just doing a standard team shirt, we went all in. We want tops, bags, the entire kit, and training kit so that when the team turn up, people think they’re serious about the sport they’re playing.”

Johnson added: “It’s the first women’s sponsorship of this level. We had a local bakery as a front-of-shirt sponsor before, but I’ve never seen an investment of this size in all my time at the club, including for the men’s sides.”

While endeavouring to grow the women’s game and offer the same opportunities as men, Vissensa wants to mirror this in the IT space.

Groom added: “We struggle to find women in IT. In my company, 20% of the employees are women, but they’re not in technical roles; men hold them, and there is no logical reason for that other than that education does not place an emphasis on what women can do in this area.

“We want to promote that we are doing this in women’s rugby so that people who have any interest in technical jobs have the confidence to have a conversation with us because they can see we have an affinity in that space.”

Lucy Parkinson, women’s manager at Ellingham & Ringwood, said: “I’ve never seen support like this solely for a female investment. It’s a great partnership, not just for what we can do at the club and on the pitch, but we can make a real difference in people’s lives individually, personally and within the community.”

In classic rugby style, the women had a kit unveiling and wore it for the first time at the end of last year for the club’s triple header. It was a memorable day for the women running out in new kit in front of a large crowd, but also because they ended the day at the top of the National Challenge South West Division 1 table.

Parkinson added: “The women felt great in the kit, and having everyone in the same uniform really helped the team’s cohesion. The support from the men was great, and I even think they had a little jealousy – which was an unusual twist!”

Vissensa also works closely with the charity MYTIME Young Carers, which helps provide young carers with the support and opportunities children deserve. The company and Ellingham & Ringwood, who have hundreds of girls in their youth ranks, are due to have further talks with the aim of future collaborations.



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