Pioneering Hull referee uncovering the history of women's rugby league
Women in England first played in an organised league during the 1980s.
An ex-referee from Hull has been awarded nearly £100,000 to spend delving into the history of women in rugby league as she tries to inspire the next generation of women in the sport.
Julia Lee got into refereeing as a route into the sport, and became the first women to referee a men's rugby league game in Great Britain in the 1980s.
She now lives in Huddersfield where she runs her social enterprise Commonsense Initiative, which has been awarded £99,912 by the National Lottery Heritage Fund for her project titled 'The Pioneering Years.'
Julia said: "I had a conversation with someone about the legends' lounge at Huddersfield's John Smith's Stadium, there's pictures of great men that have played, and I asked 'how do you get in if you're a woman' and they said 'well women have only just started playing rugby league' but actually there were women playing in Huddersfield in the 1970s!"
Growing up as a young Hull KR fan, Julia was told she couldn't play rugby league at school as there was no girls' team, so looked to refereeing as a way to be involved in the sport. On her route to making history as a referee, she faced a sport that was not set up for women.
She said: "With Hull Vixens who started up in the 1990s, there was a special in the Hull Daily Mail with a councillor saying that women shouldn't be playing.
"The women were appointed referees after the under-11s got their referees, so it's about uncovering those challenges and telling the stories of these great women but also male allies, because there was a lot of men involved who helped set up the teams."
The project will focus on Cumbria, Lancashire and Yorkshire, with plans for exhibitions in Barrow, Bradford, Halifax, Kirklees, Hull, Leeds, Warrington, Wigan, York and Wakefield.
'The Pioneering Years' will document the history of the women's game, and stage events and exhibitions where women can share their memories of the sport and engage with young women and girls to inspire the next generation of players.