photo taken from @thepwr on instagram
For the rest of the season, the British Army will be on the match officials’ shirts at all PWR fixtures with the collaboration aiming to break down barriers for women in rugby and military careers. The new campaign “Decision Making Under Pressure” highlights the skills that are shared between match officials and soldiers alike and will see new role models in sport and the service.
The collaboration will ultimately showcase women in both rugby and the armed forces and demonstrate the career opportunities for young women in a modern, inclusive army. The partnership will aim to increase representation of women in the army by advocating women’s sport and breaking down the barriers faced that prevent women considering military careers.
Women’s rugby as a whole embodies values that are similar to the military service such as teamwork, courage and commitment. The barriers across women taking up rugby and joining the army are linked as they have perceptions that it is a masculine environment, concerns about physicality and breaking stereotypes.
The engagement initiatives will tell stories of women succeeding in both careers and fans at the games or watching on television broadcasts will be able to see the collaboration throughout the rest of the season. The partnership hopes to promote and enable more women to be involved in sport and consider careers in the Army and beyond.
The campaign “Decision Making Under Pressure” will recognise how the match officials and soldiers demonstrate composure, judgement and authority in some challenging circumstances. This ultimately trains the individuals to make decisions under pressure which is core to Army life.
Colonel Rich Hall (Head of British Army Regional Engagement) spoke about the partnership and said: “We are proud to celebrate our shared values and to work with PWR to promote and enable more women to be involved in sport – whether on the pitch or in uniform.”
Executive Chair of PWR, Genevieve Shore said: “This partnership goes beyond traditional sponsorship – it’s about recognising the strength, leadership and decision-making skills that women demonstrate every day and celebrating how those same qualities translate into military service.”