The England Women’s Rugby team, the Red Roses, has announced their partnership with Mattel Inc’s Barbie ahead of the Rugby World Cup starting on Friday.
Although the collaboration does not currently involve any of the iconic dolls, it features t-shirts, hoodies and replica baby pink balls, all emblazoned with slogans like ‘Strong girls play rugby’, ‘Barbie Rugby’ and ‘Dream Team’.
What is the collaboration?
If the t-shirt designs didn’t give it away, this collaboration is aimed at inspiring rugby’s next generation of female athletes. This is the first time that Mattel Inc, the company behind Barbie, has partnered with a sports team, although they have released dolls of high profile female athletes in the past, like world-renowned sprinter Dina Asher-Smith.
Part of this collaboration is a focus on grassroots rugby and growing the game, after Mattel’s research revealed that a third of girls leave sport by the age of 14, due to a lack of confidence in their ability, whether they belong, and body image.
How will it support grassroots rugby?
Mattel have pledged to donate £20,000 to the RFU as part of their Barbie Dream Gap project, which will go towards grassroots projects to allow more girls to start - and continue - their rugby journey.
They are also supporting the RFU’s initiative of Girl’s Activity Days, which is part of their Impact '25 Programme, which aims to capitalise on the increased visibility that women’s rugby will enjoy over the next month with a home World Cup.
The Girl’s Activity Days support rugby clubs across England to organise events and activities to attract girls to the game, with over 400 clubs hosting this summer.
Which Red Roses feature in the campaign?
The campaign stars three of the Red Roses own - captain Zoe Aldcroft, flanker Sadia Kabeya and prop Sarah Bern - who all speak about the importance of having visible role models in the media for young girls and athletes.
“If you can’t see it, you can’t be it, that’s why this campaign is so important in showing that sport is for them” says Kabeya.
The Red Roses will make their first World Cup appearance on August 22 against USA in the Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, in the opening match of the home tournament.
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