Teri becomes Biggleswade RUFC's first-ever female chairperson

History has been made at Biggleswade RUFC with Teri Taylor becoming the first female chairperson in the club’s 71 year history.

She joins a select few female chairs at clubs across the country, reflecting the greater diversity in the game that is developing in the modern era.

Taylor, a long-standing member and player at the club – and the only female player to have played in both eras when the club has had a ladies’ side – was elected by members at last week’s annual meeting, which was held partly in person and partly remotely due to Covid-19 restrictions.

She steps up from her previous role as vice-chair, where she has put in a tremendous amount of hard work in recent years.

“It’s an honour and a privilege to be elected as chair of our fantastic club,” she said.

“It’s a little bit of history being the first female in this role, and it just goes to show the brilliant ethos here of us all being ‘One Club’.

“Across the board, from minis, youth, girls, colts, ladies and mens teams, we have weathered some tough times, particularly throughout the pandemic, but are looking forward to the future.

“The club spirit is really strong especially now we’re back doing what we love the most – playing rugby.

“There’s a lot of work to be done and improvements to be made, but we will do it together.”

Club members paid tribute to the outgoing chair Dave Tysom and thanked him for putting his heart and soul into the club he loves for the past four years, building a strong base for the future.

He will now take on the role of club president, taking over from John Thoday, who retired from the position.

Thoday has been another loyal and passionate stalwart of Biggy RUFC, devoting an enormous amount of time and effort into the club.

Biggleswade, meanwhile, hosted the Corona Cup Finals Day last weekend.

Senior men’s coach Jimmy Hart organised the local competitive cup which involved eight teams playing matches over three weeks, culminating in the finals day.

The firsts cup final saw Stockwood beat Huntingdon 19-8 while Biggleswade reached the firsts plate final but went down 38-26 to Hitchin.

Biggleswade did get the better of Hitchin in the seconds plate final by a 38-21 scoreline while Stockwood 2nd lost 28-10 to Datchwood 2nd in the seconds cup final.

Overall it was a fine day with supporters back at the club and Hart said: “I set the competition up so the boys had something competitive to play in and everyone bought into it.”

Biggleswade Ladies enjoyed a 28-5 friendly success over Cuffley.

Lauren Poole scored a hat-trick of tries while Harriet Gumble also went over. Charlie Field added three conversions and Claire Watson struck the other.

Biggleswade RUFC provides rugby training and playing opportunities to hundreds of people of all ages.

Anyone interested in playing or getting involved in any way should email to [email protected]