Asia Rugby ExCo Member Ada Milby bags a seat on the World Rugby Council

Ada Milby, Asia Rugby Exco Member, PRFU Secretary General, and World Rugby Council Member. Photo Credit: RS Photography / La Liga PH

Ada Milby pictured with the Asia Rugby Executive Committee Photo Credit: Asia Rugby

Ada Milby as part of the 2017 Asia Rugby AGM. Photo Credit: Asia Rugby

Asia Rugby (AR) made history by being the first of World Rugby (WR) Regional Associations to support WR Gender Balance policy. Milby was unanimously appointed by AR Executive Committee to be the Regional Association’s first ever female representative to the World Rugby council. Milby is also the Secretary General of the Philippine Rugby Football Union.  

World Rugby is the international governing body for the sport of Rugby Union and is one of the leading sporting federations that supports a Gender Balance policy across all levels of governance.
 
Milby made her international rugby debut in 2012, and was selected as the Team Captain for the National Womens Rugby Team the Lady Volcanoes later that year. She served as the Head of Development for grassroots rugby in 2013, launching the Get Into Rugby program in the same year and was later nominated for the Philippine Rugby Board of Directors. Since 2013, Milby has continued to make waves across Philippine Rugby and Asia Rugby, she is now looking to represent not only gender equality, but Philippine Rugby on the global stage.
 
“I’m so honored and humbled to be the first woman council member appointed for World Rugby Council following the strong support for Gender Inclusion at the highest level. Not only does it create the space for more women leadership to be accepted at all levels of the Game for Rugby but it is a strong statement and call to action for other sporting codes to show that when you are fully committed to Gender Inclusion, the solutions may manifest in ways not previously considered. I applaud World Rugby and its commitment to continue building a Game that is truly a ‘Sport For All’” Milby shared.
 
World Rugby will appoint 16 more women to be filled following their decision to promote the International Olympic Committee’s target of a minimum
30% representation by women across all levels of governance.
 
Rugby in Asia is on the rise, as Japan prepare to host not only the Rugby World Cup in 2019 but also the 2020 Olympic Games. Rugby 7s was re-included in 2016 which saw Fiji secure their first ever medal at the Olympics.
 
“Rugby continues to grow on a global scale, its great to see the code promoted even more now in the Asia Region. To now have Ada, representing Asia Rugby on the World Rugby Council for gender equality and represent the Philippines, shows how far the game has come. Ada has made tremendous strides for Philippine Rugby, as a player, Board member and most of all promoting Women’s Rugby in the Philippines. Her recent development in helping launch the Pass It Back program also in 2017 was yet another first for the Philippines, she’s also inspiring younger girls to take up the sport and represent on a national level ” shared Jake Letts, acting Director for Philippine Rugby.
 
The timing of the announcement is ideal as the Philippines prepares to send its first ever U17 Girls Team to the Youth Olympic Qualifiers in Dubai next week.