Jenny Maxwell has been connected to Leicester Tigers since childhood. This Sunday, October 13, the Scottish international will make her first start for the club, and will lead the team out as captain.
"I am really, really excited. To be captain is a huge honour" Maxwell said.
"The club has been a part of my family for a very long time and it’s not something I expected.
"To me, Leicester Tigers means home and family. My grandparents, on my Mum’s side, have been Season Ticket holders since the amateur days and so everyone on that side of the family grew up with Tigers, which then filtered into my Dad becoming a super fan.
"To represent my home town, it means so much to me and my family. I’ve spent many weekends down there as a child, a teenager: I’ve worked in the Club Shop! So it’s a real full-circle moment for me."
Maxwell is a true lifelong fan; a season ticket holder for decades, she's travelled to Heineken Cup finals and her parents hold Season Tickets in the Breedon Stand to this day.
"My first memory was just being in the ground, the Breedon stand and surrounded by the green, red and white. Watching Geordie Murphy score tries – he used to dive over the try line and I would emulate that at training with my local team, constantly, to the point where the coach had to get my Dad to ask me to stop as I was going to hurt myself.
"My favourite memories are, of course, times with my family but I also have such fond memories of working in the shop. On a matchday we’d really feel the buzz of everyone that walks into Mattioli Woods Welford Road. You meet so many different people from so many walks of life. I worked with my sister, I worked with my best friend and that group was so fun.
"I started at 16 till going to University at 18 and we worked in the trailer, we worked away matches, we were up in the hospitality suites so I saw a totally different side of the club."
Maxwell joined Leicester Tigers over the summer, the scrum half making the short leap over from Leicestershire locals Loughborough Lightning.
Jenny was an original at Lightning, in the squad for the club's first ever match, against Worcester Valkyries, all the way back in 2017.
Her rugby journey, however, began even closer to Mattioli Woods Welford Road.
"I grew up in Leicester, Braunstone Town so my first club was Leicester Forest East.
"My Grandad played at West Leicester, which was joined to Leicester Forest East and he took me and my sister down as they had a minis section.
"I remember it was a freezing cold day, gloves on, scarves on, really rugby weather.
"My sister absolutely hated it but I fell in love with it. At that age we did a lot of stuff together but I have never stopped playing since then.
"I played all over until around 14 when someone said I’d be a good scrum half.
"Before that I’d play across the field, on the wing and wherever; at that time there wasn’t a huge number of women and young girls teams around so sometimes I’d be playing up an age group and they’d stick me out wide but as soon as I started at scrum half, that was it for me."
Having spent seven years at Loughborough Lightning, a spell that saw the scrum half accrue 40 caps for Scotland and enjoy a loan spell at Edinburgh, the time came to move on this summer.
With Tigers now two years in to their burgeoning women's programme, Maxwell made the move across Leicestershire over the summer, much to the delight of her family.
"I was really pleased. It was something I always hoped would happen but I wasn’t sure if it would or when as I’ve played for a long time. Whether the club would create a women's team is something my family had always discussed, so I was so pleased when we heard one was forming.
"In that stage in my career, it wasn’t the right time to think about leaving. A couple of years later, I knew it was the right time.
"My family were over the moon. They were very good and not putting too much pressure on me and allowing me to decide the best club for me at the time; deep down, I knew exactly where they wanted me to go.
"Mum and Dad are chuffed to bits. They’ve bought their Season Tickets and they’re travelling down to Exeter this weekend to see me make my first start.
"It’s lovely for us. As I said, I’ve played a really long time and they have done a huge amount for me in my career and it’s so nice to see how happy they are, they’re beaming."
With the 2024/25 Premiership Women's Rugby season in full swing, Tigers will travel down to Exeter Chiefs to do battle on the South-Coast. After three appearances from the bench, in the PWR Up series and the season opener at Gloucester-Hartpury, Maxwell is looking to keep making the most of her time as a Tiger.
"The hard work is the first thing that struck me; from the management staff right through to all of the players. Everybody is striving to improve week in, week out, whether that’s on the training field or in matches. Pre-season was tough.
"Coming in, the girls have been fantastic, they have been so welcoming.
"I feel a real energy being here, I feel energised as a player.
"I look forward to coming here to train and I look forward to every time I’ll get to step out on that field."
