Vicky, who received a British Empire Medal for services to sport, was an England international with 34 caps, plus also representing England at 7s. She has coach men’s rugby with Hinkley, was director of women’s rugby at Loughborough University, as well as coaching at Lichfield Women.
In 2015 she founded didi Rugby UK and now has franchises across the UK, New Zealand, Australia and Italy.
She has also featured as a radio commentator at Women’s World Cups and on Leicester Tigers games.
Here are the questions we asked her:
Talk is through your coaching and playing journey.
What made you leave teaching and set up didi Rugby?
What have been your biggest learning points since starting up your business?
What advice would you give to anyone wishing to do this?
What has been the biggest impact of didi Rugby, on young children and any young coaches involved?
When working with young children, what would you say are the most important skills to develop?
What has been your most amusing moment working with young children?
Do you find any similarities when coaching children or adults?
How do you differentiate the sessions for 18 months to 6 yr olds?
What skills from your teaching have you found most useful when coaching?
How do you ensure learning occurs when planning a session for young children?
You have an extremely successful franchise in England how easy was it to set up in NZ, Italy and Australia?
What was it like receiving your BEM?
What has been the proudest moment of your rugby career?
How have you adapted during lockdown?
What’s next for you?
Click on the link to find out more about didi Rugby.
Bird and LJ caught with Rachel Lund, former England international and now a Gloucester-Hartpury player who is studying to become a physio.
They asked her about the following:
Her journey from minis player to premiership.
Combining and juggling her commitments as an international and club player whilst studying full time for a degree.
Whether she would have changed to a full-time contract if she had been offered it.
The importance of having many career options.
Her current degree in physiotherapy.
How her degree combines with her sport. MORE
Bird and LJ catch up with England Women's assistant coach, Amy Turner.
Amy played 59 times for England, at scrum-half, centre and hooker. She played in three World Cups and helped England win seven Six Nations Grand Slams.
She is currently a World Rugby intern. Formerly a police officer, she worked for the RFU as a Performance Pathway Officer and coached men's rugby too. MORE
Bird and LJ talk to Lynne Cantwell, the first high performance manager for the women’s game in South Africa.
Lynne is Ireland’s most capped (86) female rugby player. She was appointed to the South African role in February 2021. She has been a member of Sport Ireland’s board since 2019. She is also a qualified physiotherapist. MORE
Carol was a founder member of the women's RFU, captain Great Britain and England international teams in their games. She was the first woman to achieve a L3 coaching award in England and was performance director of women's rugby in England too.
As well as being awarded an OBE for services to women's rugby, she is in the World Rugby Hall of Fame and consults for World Rugby. MORE
Bird and LJ welcome Kate Burke, Lead Pathway Analyst with England Rugby. Kate has an MSc in Sports Analysis. After working in Wales with academy teams, she moved to the RFU in 2008, working with U18s and covering the men's teams. She then joined Bath for two years as head of analysis, before returning to the RFU to oversee analysis provision across the pathway, women's, 7's and referees' departments. MORE
