Lincolnshire Lancers became the first all-inclusive rugby club in the county when they were first founded back in July 2022.
The club have made massive progress since then having 25 members in total, and are based in Nettleham, Lincolnshire at Lincoln Rugby Club.
They also saw themselves nominated for the inclusivity and diversity award at Active Lincolnshire’s award ceremony, in which they finished runners up at.
The club now hopes to expand in the future and hopes to be playing competitive rugby next April if all goes well, as well as joining the International Gay League next September which allows them to compete in a league for the first time.
Blake Coghill, the founder of Lincolnshire Lancers says: “The reason I started it was that the LGBT community, especially in Lincolnshire is lacking so this is a place where people can meet and come together.”
Mr Coghill now hopes that eventually that there won’t be different rugby leagues, “I think this is a step in the right direction to give people confidence, the thing we look for in the future is no need for individual leagues.”
Darren Morrin, who is the Head of Global Communications and Media Relations for the International Gay League, believes that it is all about respect to keep moving forward, “It’s how you react, how you act around players, it’s how you act around family, the management of the clubs, and not using words that are unacceptable.
Mr Morrin also confirmed that there are 133 inclusive rugby clubs around the world
However, despite all the positives of inclusive rugby becoming more widely recognised, there are still problems that Mr Coghill wants to fight.
Back in August this year, transwomen were banned from participating in rugby at any level of the game, including grassroots. Mr Coghill exclaimed how Lincolnshire Lancers and the community want to fight this: “We will fight against it, and we will try and make our voices heard as much as possible.”
If you are interested in joining Lincolnshire Lancers, training every Thursday between 7-8:30 at Lincoln Rugby Club, Nettleham. You can get in contact with them via their Facebook.