User:Ssanchezmm/Women's rugby league

= Womens Rugby League = Women's Rugby League is the female-only version of the game rugby league football. There are currently clubs for female-only participation running in Australia, Great Britain, and New Zealand which are overseen by the various individual organizations of those separate countries and internationally by the Women & Girls Rugby League.

At international level Australia, [[France women's national rugby league team|France]], England, and New Zealand compete on a regular basis with a Women's Rugby League World Cup held at a regular interval after first being established in 2000.

A basic game of Rugby consists of the opposing team scoring against you, which is called a "try. Each try is worth 5 points, which then leads to a kick that counts as two points if made over the post. Any player may score a try.

To start a game, the player must drop kick the ball towards the other side which makes them the defending team and the opposing team is the offensive team. The offensive team must get that ball to the "try" zone, while the other team is tackling for defense. There are of course rules when it comes to the defensive side as well as the offensive side. The only restriction when moving the ball is that it must be past backwards towards your teamate and not forward.

History
The history of Women's Rugby was not one that was very well known like that of other well known sports. The first recorded women to play Rugby was Emily Valentine in 1184. It happened at Portora Royal School in Ireland when her brothers were forming the schools first rugby team. After that, there was a record that showed women who tried to form an actual Women's Rugby League during 1891 in New Zealand but it did not work out due to society not accepting it. There was also some evidence that Women's Rugby was played in different counties like France, New Zealand, and and Australia in the 1920's and 1930's. Due to World War II, they had to leave that and focus on the war effort.

May 1, 1968 marked the day that the first women's club match was finally played in France. The first Women's US National Championship was held in September 1978 in Chicago, IL, and from there Women's Rugby only grew. Since the 1990s, rugby for women has grown dramatically and more rugby union tournaments have been held since. Although Women's 7s (7 players on the field) tends to be more popular, 15s (15 players on the field) have been gaining more attention.

New Zealand Rugby League
Women's rugby league in New Zealand is controlled by the [[New Zealand Rugby League]]. The national side is called the Kiwi Ferns. The NZRL Women's National Tournament is a competition for female rugby league teams. Women have been playing rugby in New Zealand since the 19th century.

U.S.A Women's Rugby League
In 1985 the first Women's USA Rugby League of a national team was formed. An ‘invitation-only’ team was put together and consisted the top women playing the game at the time. The team was named WIVERN and toured throughout England and France. By the end, the team was undefeated.