With the financial meltdown of the union last year, it was decided to initially pull the Otago women's team out of the national championship as the union could not afford to fund the side and its short programme.
But a fundraising campaign, led by former players and assisted by All Black Adam Thomson who put some of his All Black gear up for sale, managed to raise the $20,000 needed to bankroll the team.
The Spirit did it on a shoestring but performed well and just missed the final, losing to eventual champion Auckland in its last round-robin match.
Otago Rugby Football Union general manager Richard Kinley confirmed yesterday the union intended to have a women's team in the competition this year and it would be funded by the union.
The union was waiting for a detailed draw to come through to complete the budget but wanted more home games to help the team.
He said the union was planning a full representative programme from schoolboys to the Otago development side. He added it was vital to have a pathway for players in Otago to aspire to.
The women's national provincial championship draw may have to be tweaked as a couple of unions are undecided on whether they will have teams.
Waikato was last year added to the mix to have seven teams and there were indications the likes of Taranaki and Counties-Manukau were keen to get involved. Hawkes Bay competed for a few years but was thrashed in many games last season and its future is in doubt.
The competition is scheduled to start in early September and finish on October 26, when the final will be played as the curtain-raiser to the ITM Cup premiership final.
