Huddersfield's Laura Hanson is in the running for this year’s prestigious Foxy Bingo.Com Ladies of League award.
The former Huddersfield Giants Community Manager is one of 10 ladies in the running for the honour, with the five that gain the most votes invited to attend next month’s star-studded Super League Man of Steel evening to pick up their trophy.
The winner will be chosen by a panel of Super League judges, with £1,000 of holiday vouchers the big prize, as well as a further £1,000 handed to a rugby league club of the winner’s choice to help fund a community-related project - and with Laura coming from a Huddersfield Giants-supporting family, it seems certain which club would profit!
Laura, who is married to top professional Huddersfield golfer Chris Hanson, is among the frontrunners for the award, having devoted all her working life to promoting the game.
In fact, that process started when she was studying at Huddersfield’s Greenhead College and established the school’s first female Rugby League side.
She then did exactly the same during her time at Leeds Met, overcoming countless odds to get a ladies side up and running.
Those efforts helped her catch the eye of Leeds Rhinos, where she was appointed the Development Officer for Women’s and Girls Rugby League at the Super League club.
At the same time, Laura once again put her pioneering abilities into action and formed the club’s first female side at Stanningley Ladies, which is still going strong today.
And this paved the way for her to take up the position of Community Manager at hometown club Huddersfield Giants in 2009, where she headed a team of five male coaches,
Although her main role was to oversee the promotion of the game of Rugby League throughout the schools and amateur clubs of Huddersfield, she also headed up the ‘Huddersfield Rugby League: A Lasting Legacy’ committee with Brian Heywood and Rob Light, striving to record and preserve the history of Rugby League in the Huddersfield district. They pitched for a Heritage Lottery Fund and were successful.
Over the past few years, Laura has taken a back seat in order to start a family, although she still helps to bang the Rugby League drum at every opportunity.
As a result, she is known to be a strong candidate for this year’s award – something which should be guaranteed by voting for her on the Foxy Bingo.Com website under the Ladies of League section.
