Huddersfield Giants Women’s team will move from being ran by the club’s charitable arm – the Huddersfield Giants Community Trust – to the main Huddersfield Giants club.
The move comes with Huddersfield looking to increase the support for their Women’s side as they get ready to compete in a revamped eight-team Betfred Women’s Super League in 2024.
Huddersfield Giants Women previously earned promotion to Group 1 of the Betfred Women’s Super League with a 22-24 Shield Final victory over Featherstone Rovers in 2021.
Managing Director Richard Thewlis said: “We’ve had to recognise that the women’s team no longer fits the charitable aims and objectives of the Trust and simply had to move across to the main club itself. Their development as a team and the wider growth of the women’s game has been monumental in such a short period of time and its one that we want to embrace and grow with.
"We are already a Women's Super League Club by right given our level of performance, but we now want to press fast forward so to speak and really crack on. We have met all the increasingly costly standards set by the Rugby Football League for the Women's teams and will look to further commercialise the opportunities that this presents.
"We will shortly be announcing a number of Full-Time opportunities within the women's operation which will include a dedicated manager and physiotherapist as well as stand-alone doctor. We’ve seen positions shared with the men’s game in the league but at Huddersfield it will be the other way around.
"These people’s primary role is with the women's teams, The Huddersfield players at Super League level will have the access to the very best medical care in the game which is something we believe strongly in. We will reward those players who attain international honours financially and contract then as such so that mid-season movement as has currently occurred is a thing of the past. Our developing Laund Hill complex will become a real home for the team with the state-of-the-art brand new 4G pitch being a focal point.
"There will be a huge challenge for us to incorporate an additional fifty players into our systems and it is one that will require increased commercial support. We believe we can attain that through our women in business network which regularly attracts over 100 attendees to its popular events. In addition, gates have grown over time and that’s another key area of focus for us and will form a large part of the new Women's Marketing and Media officer’s role.”
The 2023 Betfred Women’s Super League season culminates this Sunday with York Valkyrie facing Leeds Rhinos in the Grand Final at the LNER Community Stadium whilst Barrow Raiders face Leigh Leopards in the Group 2 Promotion Play-Off Final. Tickets for the double-header are available here.
