Girls' rugby has been the fastest-changing part of most club junior sections, and the touring calendar has not always kept up with it. If you are organising a first festival or tour for a girls team, this is what to expect: what a girls team gets every time, where the girls categories run, why the entries behave differently from the boys' and what to do about it.
Where the girls categories run
Three of the 2027 UK festivals run girls-only categories as standard: Revel Rugby Devon (3–4 April), Revel Rugby Somerset (1–2 May) and Revel Rugby Cheshire (1–2 May). Each runs Girls Under 12, Under 14 and Under 16. Revel Rugby North Wales can run girls categories too where there is demand; it is early in the season and entries shape the format.
Abroad, the Ghent Easter tournament in Belgium runs a Girls Under 18 category and a Women's category, and in some years an Under 16. If Under 16 is the one you need, ask us and we will confirm it with the organiser before you commit to anything.
What a girls team gets, every time
Your girls team enters as a girls team, in its own competition. Not as an add-on to the boys' weekend, and never against boys' teams. The same pitches, the same stage, the same finals and the same medals as every other category at the festival.
Every girls category is Under 12 and above, so they all run as competitive rugby: medals for all finalists and trophies for the winners of each final, presented on stage in front of your families with the music up.
And the weekend itself: accommodation on the holiday park as part of the package, so the squad stays together and their families stay with them, with the pool, the arcade and the evening entertainment on site. On-site first aid across the whole festival. A named tour manager who takes the organiser through the booking rather than leaving them with a form.
Why girls entries are different, and what we do about it
You probably already know the part most brochures leave out. Girls entries land later and move more than the boys', age group by age group. A category that looked healthy in September can be thin by Christmas, and most girls sections have had a season of ringing round to get a side out.
We are not neutral about that. The categories exist because we want the girls game to grow, so filling them is our job rather than yours. Here is how it works in practice. Once a travelling girls team commits to a festival and an age group, we build the category around it: we go out to the girls sections in that area and work with the regional girls' rugby development contacts to recruit the local opposition, rather than waiting to see who turns up. Your commitment is what starts it.
The question to ask before you announce anything
Send us the festival you are looking at and the age group your girls play in. We come back within one working day with how that category is shaping up and how we will build it around your team.
That one question changes how you plan: you announce to your families with a real picture of the weekend rather than a brochure line.
Planning a girls tour: the practical bits
- Squad size. Squad sizes follow the age-group format at the festival, and each festival page lists its own. Plan numbers so everyone plays; joining with a neighbouring club to make a squad is common and we can help with it.
- Mixed sections. Plenty of clubs bring the girls team alongside the boys' age groups on the same weekend. Same park, same Clubhouse link, separate competition.
- Coaches and welfare. Your club's normal ratios and safeguarding arrangements travel with you.
- Booking. One Clubhouse link; each family books its own accommodation and pays Revel directly, deposit first and the balance in instalments before the tour.
A trip just for the girls
Alongside the festivals we arrange tailored rugby trips for girls teams: fixtures, travel, accommodation and a tour manager, built around your squad, your dates and your budget rather than a fixed tournament weekend. It is the route a lot of girls sections take when they want a trip of their own. Tell us the squad, the ages and roughly when, and we will cost it.
Would your club host a travelling girls team?
The best fixtures come from a local club that wants the game as much as the visitors do, so we keep a register of girls sections who would welcome a travelling team: a friendly, a place at your own festival, a joint session. No commitment and nothing to pay. Add your club on the girls rugby page and when we have girls travelling to your area, yours is the first number we ring.
Price it for your club
Tell us the festival you are looking at, your age groups and roughly how many are travelling. We come back within one working day with dates, availability and a per-person price — or use the instant quote to price a festival, park and party size right now.
Phone lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm, and WhatsApp is always on. Contact the team.