What an incredible way to round off the 2025/26 season at Empire! Term 3’s 8-week training block has, without a doubt, been our best yet, with over 110 girls taking part across our Next Gen and Senior Academy programmes. Throughout the term, we challenged our Senior Academy players more than ever before. They embraced high-intensity rugby sessions, demanding strength and conditioning work in the gym, combat training, and our highly valued workshops with High Performance Syste

Empire Rugby Academy is delighted to launch “Next Gen Empire, Introduction to Contact”, a new programme designed specifically for U10–U13 girls in the UAE. We are excited to welcome younger players into the Empire pathway and support their development within the game. With the recent introduction of contact rugby through DASSA, we will be delivering a dedicated Introduction to Contact block this term to help prepare players for this transition. This programme is designed t

On the final weekend of March, Empire Rugby Academy embarked on its first ever international tour, competing at the Portugal Rugby Youth Festival, an incredibly competitive 15s tournament featuring teams from across the world. We travelled with 39 Empire players, forming two squads (U15s and U18s), and were also joined by four invitational players from Loughborough College. The U15s were captained by Neve Lamont and the U18s by Chloe Corby. In the lead-up to the tour, uncerta

Although Term 2 was a shorter block, it was another brilliant, action-packed five weeks for our Empire girls. With Ramadan commencing this month and many of the squad preparing for our upcoming Portugal tour, we delivered a focused five-week training block beforehand, designed to make the most of every session. The girls worked incredibly hard both in the gym and on the pitch, showing great improvements and a real commitment to their development. This term we: Increased our f

Term 1 at Empire was filled with some truly incredible moments, welcoming many new and returning faces into our growing community. Across the 10-week block, the girls trained with real intent and commitment, and we were fortunate to welcome a range of high-quality performance specialists who helped enhance each player’s rugby journey both on and off the pitch. Throughout the term, we were proud to welcome: High Performance Systems , who delivered two excellent nutrition and m

Aydia Coetzee ventured over to England this summer to begin her studies at Hartpury University , where she has truly flourished both on and off the field. Joining the university’s performance rugby programme for pre-season, Aydia has thrown herself into every challenge, showing great commitment, resilience, and passion for her development. Since moving, she has transitioned into a new position at prop , embracing the technical and physical demands of the role with determinat

We’re proud to continue celebrating the milestones and recognition of our players and coaches both on and off the field. Below are some of our recent Instagram features and announcements. Original Announcement Post Catch up on the official announcement of our players representing the UAE and Sri Lanka at the U20 Asia Championship.👉 View on Instagram Celebratory Posts for Our Coaches Our coaches continue to inspire players and shape the future of female rugby in the UAE. Jess

Empire Rugby Academy is proud to celebrate the incredible achievements of seven of our Block One Academy players who earned international selection for the U20 Asia Championship held in Bihar, India on August 9–10 this summer. Representing the UAE National Team were Tilly Dando, Chloe Andrews, Jess Harris, Jade Blommaert, Lara Shah, and Ella Brookes, with Naduli De Silva selected to represent Sri Lanka. We are extremely proud of these players and all they accomplished at the

Throughout our programme in our last Term 3 block , we invited a range of world-class guest coaches and performance specialists to work with our girls. Each brought their own experience, insight, and energy in helping players grow. During our first term, players had the opportunity to learn from: Alex Wallace – Sale Sharks, Scotland 15s Carmella Morrall – Loughborough Lightning, England U20s Bianca Farella – 2× Olympian, World Cup Silver Medalist Brad Janes – Dragons, UA

Date: August 2025 Empire Rugby Academy continues to grow! Following the success of our Dubai programmes, we are proud to offer camps at 321 Sports, Hudayriat Island. The first camp took place on Sunday 31st August at 321 Sports, Hudayriyat Island , bringing together female athletes for a full day of high-performance training and development. The day was packed with: Rugby pitch sessions Strength & conditioning profiling A nutrition seminar Guided pool recovery We welcomed U

Date: July 2025 Empire Rugby Academy is proud to celebrate the success of Matilda Hall . Matilda, a former Dubai Warriors player, has taken her game to the next level since joining the academy. Through dedicated training sessions, gym work, and performance support, she prepared for her next chapter at Loughborough College in the UK . This summer, Matilda also made history as the first Empire Rugby Academy player to represent HammerHead 7s in the UK. In her own words: “The a

Date: June 2025 April’s launch of Empire Rugby Academy built towards a special milestone, our very first showcase game at the end of Term 1. Over ten weeks, athletes developed their skills through high-quality coaching, strength & conditioning, and specialist sessions. The showcase match was the perfect opportunity to put everything into practice on the pitch. Players demonstrated the progress they had made, from improved fitness and technical ability to stronger game awar

Date: April 2025 April 2025 marked the beginning of a new era for women’s rugby in the UAE with the launch of Empire Rugby Academy , the country’s first female-only performance rugby academy. Led by an experienced all-female coaching team, the academy opened its doors to U16 and U19 athletes for a 10-week high-performance programme . Players trained in an environment designed to mirror the professional game, combining: High-quality on-field coaching Strength & conditioning p