Tatyana Heard will be visiting Malton & Norton Rugby Club as part of a new programme that will connect Red Roses with community clubs. During Tatyana’s appearance on 1st June, she will be involved with helping fun touch / tag based games down on the pitches. Tatyana has said she would love to answer some questions you may have for her, maybe ask about her journey from Italy via Malton to the Red Roses.
As many know Tatyana has just competed for the Red Roses in the Guinness Six Nations. With Tat’s Red Roses currently positioned as the number one ranked side in the world, and with a home World Cup being hosted in this country next year, there is huge excitement and increased interest around women’s rugby union at present. Malton & Norton Rugby Union Football Club is capitalising on the momentum by having Tat visit the club.
During her appearance, Tatyana has promised to donate one of her England shirts to the club and following the Q & A's hopefully the official handover of her shirt will wrap up the morning, we'll make sure they'll be plenty of time to chat, grab an autograph & a photo or two.
Tatyana is plays inside centre for her club side and the Red Roses, number twelve to the newer people to rugby, currently has twenty one caps to her name in the white shirt and as each game goes by is becoming a vital piece not only in attack but is the driving forward the team in defence.
Tat chose us as the club she wanted to visit as part of the new programme. She chose to visit the Gannock as part of this programme as this is where everything started in her journey aged 11. Tat is no stranger and knows full well our ambitions to grow the women & girl’s game locally, Tat was part of a successful girls program in 2010-12 at Malton but due to falling numbers her rugby commitments moved down the road to Leeds. Tat alongside ex Malton and fellow England player Rachel Lund visited and supported our growing girls section in 2016 we think this may have inspired Morwenna Talling to strive for international honours.
The women’s game in England is already flourishing from the grassroots level through to the elite; the Red Roses are currently ranked the number one team in the world, while the participation number for women and girls have risen to over 40,000. With England hosting Rugby World Cup 2025, the aim is to reach 100k registered female players by 2027.
Tatyana has said, “There is a huge opportunity to engage and grow the girls’ game, especially as we lead up to hosting Rugby World Cup 2025. I am so excited to return to my home and see all the people connected with the club.
“Rugby has given me so much, and I’m excited to see more girls giving rugby a go as we build towards next year’s Rugby World Cup.
Natalie Featherstone, Team Manager for our girl’s teams, said: “We are delighted and extremely grateful that Tatyana will be joining us at Malton. She is such an inspiration to our community and we cannot wait for her to visit and meet all our members. It’s been great to see the growth of the women and girls’ game in recent years, and we’d be delighted to welcome more players to our club.”
Visit findrugby.comor maltonandnortonrufc.rfu.club for more information.
