Women's rugby on hiatus for 2024
Marist St Pats has made an extremely tough decision not to field a Women's team in 2024.
On the back of a historic unbeaten season, a large number of the 2023 squad are unavailable to play this year due to relocations, retirements and other commitments. We are grateful to the contributions these players have made to our club over many years and support their decisions to end their careers as champions.
Despite welcoming a number of enthusiastic recruits, the player pipeline in Wellington is limited which is challenging to all clubs with some choosing to field amalgamated sides. It has become evident that our current squad size would not cater for the rigours of the season ahead. Player welfare is paramount and we wouldn’t wish to put any of our players at risk by playing through injuries or playing out of position through lack of depth in specialist positions. As we continued to look for opportunities to introduce new players over the past month, the opportunity to investigate an amalgamated side has passed.
This decision wasn't taken lightly and comes with great disappointment for our players and management. We would like to recognise the commitment and effort of the players who have been training throughout the summer. We will support them to play at other clubs should they choose to and provide opportunities to contribute to the club off the field if they prefer.
Marist St Pats remains committed to growing Women's rugby. Our Director of Rugby, Sean Horan, will be laying plans to ensure this year is a hiatus and that Women's rugby will return to MSP in 2025. This will include the reintroduction of the Marist St Pats Academy to provide development opportunities to young women and men. We look forward to welcoming Women’s rugby back into our club in 2025.
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