A born and bred Cantabrian surrounded by sport, it was only natural that Sophie Thompson laced up the boots, and has gone on to pave the way in the Women and Girls space, across both Touch and Rugby. Playing a season for Burnside before residing in England, before playing five seasons in Spain in Sophie’s words “I’m the first to admit I was never an amazing player but rugby was a great way to make friends and build connections. No matter what country you’re playing in, it’s a universal language.”
Sport being a huge part of her family culture, somewhat of a tradition, Thompson transitioned into the coaching, managing and volunteering space, driving the growth of our girls game at Marist Albion. “The reality is all sports require volunteers, it made sense to get involved and share my passion and love for the sport. You don’t have to be a national champion to get joy from it or to form your sporting family, I wanted to lend a hand in any way I could so my own children can enjoy playing sport too” said Thompson.

The establishment of the Marist Albion girls-only junior, and intermediate teams happened organically and has just grown exponentially from there. Sparked by a poster advertising a girls only “have a go” session hosted by Canterbury Rugby at Nunweek Park in early 2023, Thompson and good friend Tim Willets turned up with their rugby mad daughters, and left having formed their first team. By the end of the first season one team had already become two with a wider age range of girls taking to the field. By year two the girls were recruiting their friends and Marist Albion had grown again with a third team being formed. “It really shows if you provide the right environment the girls will come and play. The girls who love it invite their friends and they have been a big help in breaking down the barriers of getting involved in a sport that’s traditionally male dominated” said Thompson. This season Marist Albion has five teams across the two age groups and over 70 girls registered to play on Monday nights, no mean feat for a club that started with just two girls a few seasons ago. There is something about the physicality of rugby that makes our girls feel so proud and brave, and really connected with their teammates” said Thompson.

Thompson’s not stopping there, with the long term goal of increasing participation to the point where grades won’t have to cover up to three age groups, especially in the younger teams. “It’s a few years off yet and would require more clubs to get involved, so I issue that challenge to all clubs. For the growth and preservation of our national sport, more people and clubs have to get on board and embrace having and including girls in the game” said Thompson. A teacher by trade, Thompson believes that coaching is way more than just the sport itself, it is about helping foster and developing a players personal self esteem, sense of self-worth and supporting players to build positive connections on and off the field. “I actually see my main role as more of the 'Hype Girl', I always think if I can support even one girl to find connection through sport when things might be tough at home then it is all worth it. I try to make it as fun as possible for the girls, and my teaching background certainly helps”.