"Then it went up to six teams and, in the end, we had a Wanganui rep team playing in the national competition."
The 42-year-old who won her first international cap in 1989, fondly remembers those days.
"There were a lot of girls in Wanganui who had never played but were very keen.
"They wanted to do it but had never been allowed to do it. Their brothers, fathers, husbands and boyfriends all played, but they'd never pulled a pair of boots on.
"We all enjoyed the game and we also socialised off the paddock which was an important part of it."
In contrast to male stereotyping, Inwood actually got a lot of encouragement from the men.
"We got huge support from the Wanganui union and the rugby people in the city - the support for the women's game was better than I've seen in many bigger unions.
"On a couple of occasions we played the curtain-raiser at Spriggens Park for the Wanganui men's rep team and that was a huge deal for the girls."
The Canterburian got the rugby bug at Lincoln University where she studied farm management.
"There was no rugby when I was at school - it wasn't the done thing - but my netball coach at university played so I gave it a go.
"I just loved the physicality of it, and it was something where you could run, pass and kick all in one sport ... plus it developed a great team spirit."
Inwood played for the Black Ferns in the first women's World Cup in 1991 in Wales, where the New Zealanders lost in a semifinal to eventual winners United States.
Her playing career ended in 1999 - "I'd achieved what I wanted to as a player and I'd had a go at reffing and enjoyed it."
And so she picked up the whistle and has since blown her way to the top.
"The first men's game I referee-ed was Marton under-21s against Kaierau under-21s at Marton Park, and I was a bag of nerves. But I moved on to reffing senior men's games in Wanganui.
"The players took it well having a woman in charge. Because I'd played the game and been an international, they accepted me - they knew when I said no back-chat and no swearing that I meant it. The coaches were more of a problem."
Moving through the ranks, Inwood officiated her first international at the 2002 World Cup in Barcelona - US v Netherlands. Her international tally now stands at 25 matches, with a further 23 as an assistant referee, and she has also run women's sevens in Hong Kong and Wellington.
"I'm aiming to be at my fourth World Cup next year in Paris and after that I might hang my boots up," she said.
She is quite happy never to have reffed a women's World Cup final - New Zealand have claimed the past four titles.
The IRB has just announced America's Leah Berard will be the first women to ref at men's under-20 international level when she goes to the Junior World Rugby Trophy in Salt Lake City, but Inwood doesn't see the girls making it all the way to the highest level.
"I don't think we'll ever see a woman reffing at Super 15 or a men's full international; I don't think any woman has the speed or physique to do it.
"If someone comes up who is fast enough and good enough, then there's no reason why not but I doubt they could sustain the pace - some of the men struggle now."
Now co-ordinating visitor services at a wildlife park in Christchurch, Inwood will be a guest at the union anniversary on June 2-3.
Sadly, we will miss out on her officiating skills. "I was due to referee the Metropolitan versus Country rep trial match at Spriggens Park but I've got an injured knee."
