Swru - Women's National Development League

Women's National Development League

The National Development League (NDL) is a programme that started in 2006-07 season to meet the needs of new and developing women's clubs. It combines competition and skills development for all senior players, by a skill specific coaching session delivered by NDL coaches, followed by league games. Each event is hosted by a participating club and all players come together for the coaching session. They then play 7, 10, 12, 13 or 15-a-side games with their team. Individual players attending are allocated to a team on the day. The results from these fixtures are collated and used to produce the National Develoment League table. There are 6 NDL dates on the calendar for this season. Attendance at NDL events is free to all participants.

The programme is very flexible, and aims to give players the chance to develop their rugby skills in a controlled competitive environment. Any player, aged 18+ years (except Scotland Women or Scotland Women A) can attend, so Premier and National League clubs can send along their new players to gain some valuable game time experience before dropping into fully competitive league rugby. All new start teams must start in the NDL, which gives them an opportunity to build their player numbers and experience.

From January of each season, the NDL will be opened up to players born in 1992 (17 year olds), to offer them the opportunity to participate in senior rugby within a controlled environment, supporting them in their transition from girls' rugby to women's rugby for the following season. Any player wishing to take up this opportunity must have been granted Exception Approval using the following form: