Assignment #2
This article is about the Bridgewater University Women's Rugby Club that is not very well known on campus despite their dominating fall season and defeating the undefeated team. This group of women have a love for this game that most will never understand unless that is they are a Rugby player as well.
The Unknown Team
Laughing and yelling can be heard from the ECC Field Tuesday and Thursday nights from the Bridgewater State Women’s Rugby Club. On the verge of ending their season with only one loss; this team has come back from a year and a half suspension for inability to summit paper work to dominate the competition. With their win over Springfield College’s Women Rugby Club last weekend they successfully defeated the undefeated team and with the last game of the season this Saturday may finish their fall season 6-1. Although this team is virtually unknown on campus their passion for the game is beyond words.
Their practice field is half taken up by the construction of the new parking structure on campus. The only lights that aluminates their practices comes from the parking lot or the walking path. Their field’s lines to designate out of bounds are represented by four orange cones. As a team designated as a club there is little help from the university but that does not bother these players who would play even if there was no club. Hilary White a junior, who plays wing on the team, loves the aggressive aspect of the game and had never played before she saw the team playing outside her dorm room last year immediately catching her attention. She says that in Rugby “most Rugby players will play until they can’t play anymore in which case they coach.” Speaking to the players of the physical and passionate team I got the sense that these women were more than teammates but more like a family.
For many Americans, Rugby is a sport that many have heard but just as many can tell you nothing about the game other than it’s a very aggressive and physical game. For starters Rugby originated in England in around the 1800’s and all things considering Rugby is a fairly new sport that is gaining worldwide recognition. It has both elements of soccer and American football and the name is actually named after the ball which is called a Rugby. It is related to soccer in that it is a conditioning game where there are two half’s of consecutive play. It is related to American football in that the Rugby is passed from one player to the other only in rugby it is tossed and only allowed to be tossed to a teammate behind you never to a person in front of you. Also the physical aspect of tackling is incorporated in both Rugby and American football. When a player makes a touchdown in football the term “touchdown” is taken from Rugby where the player must touch the ball to the grown in order to score.
Only in the last couple of years has Rugby become a popular sport in America. The Bears assistant coach Tim Doyle brings a new aspect to the game for the girls. Hilary said “sense Tim started helping out our game has become more physical and we kick the ball more when before we never did”. Doyle was previously a soccer player who got interested in Rugby when the funding for the soccer team was cut and he was left without a sport to play. “ I just started playing Rugby” says Doyle “ for the fun of it but then I just got addicted and I have been playing ever since.” Tim who is full of Rugby facts and trivia is unable to play for any men’s teams at the college because presently none exist. When the subject of a men’s Rugby club team came up there was talk around the table of people each of the girls knew who wanted to play but as of presently there is still no official Bridgewater State Men’s Rugby Club and the feelings around the table were that there was a lot of interest and maybe soon enough action to get the ball rolling.
After talking with a couple members on the team all of their views on the game were the same; it’s and up and coming game that is extremely addictive. Lara Joyce a senior on the team and one of the veterans who plays flank, prop, and forward started playing Ruby the summer before she started college. She remembers a previous game against Brandeis where the game got a little more than physical. “During the game a player on the other team and I got a little more physical then allowed so after the game I went up to her to apologize and her response was there was no hard feelings. In Ruby there is a sense of competition but it is all left on the pitch. It is not unknown to be asked by the opposing team after the game to hangout even if your kick the crap out of them.”
As many know Rugby is an extremely physical sport that is known to be the source of bruises, scrapes, twisted ankles, concussions, and broken bones just to name a few but this aspect of the game is what seem to be the addicting quality that these women can’t let go. Many chose to think that any physical sport is not to be played by women but this team will soon change their mind.Hilary White remembers “A couple of days ago some women from the team decided to play basketball but we all realized it could not compare to Rugby. We ended up tackling each other on the court because that is what makes Rugby so fun, the physical aspect of the game.”
As in any sport there are always going to be negative people who think watching women play a sport is not as interesting as watching men play. The teammates I talk to held very strong opinions on this subject. Doyle said “ some people I know believe that watching women play Rugby is not as fun or interesting as watching men but I would love to throw them on the field with these women. They could really teach them a lesson.” He went on to say “ there is a women on this team that can hit harder than any man I have played with, it literally sounds like a steak smacking pavement when she hits another women on the field.” When it comes to women vs. men and who is more interesting to watch or who plays a better game to these women there is no comparison.