MARFU U23 Tournament, 2008

There is nothing like waking up two hours before the sunrise to start a rugby weekend.

Our game versus the VRU team had been moved up out of concern for the weather, so departure times had to be moved up as well. It was still dark all the way through DC and Baltimore as I drove to pick up teammates, but even when the sun did rise we couldn’t see it through the clouds and rain.

However, by the time we made it to Edgely Field, conditions had cleared up. The pitch was pretty water-logged, but there were no standing puddles and the sun actually came out a little. As we warmed up, the wind began to pick up, but the weather stayed clear.

Finally, we kit up into our white-and-red jerseys and shorts and took the field. It was my third year wearing the number 8 to represent the PRU, and I was nervous and excited. We played a hard match in the first half, but still let the VRU get four tries through. After the half and some substitutions, however, the PRU really pulled together and held the scoring even. Supporting from the sidelines, I was excited and proud by how well the team played – it was a clear improvement over past years.

At the end of the match, the Philadelphia Women’s Club awarded lock Laura Miller the Player of the Match award – well deserved for a great player!

Next we all stripped out of our no-longer-white uniforms and piled into cars for an adventurous caravan back to the hotel. After snacks and showers, a group of us took our sore bodies downstairs to take advantage of the hotel’s pool and hot tub (!!) before heading to a delicious pasta dinner.

Post-dinner, we had a brief team meeting to go over strategy and talk about strengths and weaknesses of our performance on Saturday. We then split into forwards and backs to talk about what to focus on for our match against the MARFU U19 squad on Sunday. Sadly, we didn’t get to watch a copy of the game tape as planned (I was really looking forward to this, as I’ve never gotten to observe myself play!) but Coach Kenny Pope and assistant coaches Tosan Tutse-Tonwe and Deanna Church had some great insights despite our lack of technology.

KP also announced that the time of our Sunday match had been pushed back and that the pitch had been moved to New Jersey. In light of our later kick-off time, everyone was free to stay up late, hanging out and getting to know each other and generally enjoying the concentrated awesome that occurs anytime a big group of ruggers get together. But we did, after all, have another game on Sunday, so eventually everyone headed to bed.



Sunday morning, after taking advantage of the complimentary breakfast buffet as only rugby girls can, everyone packed back into cars to follow a circuitous route (more so for some than others!) to our pitch in South Jersey. As we arrived one by one, it became very clear to us that this would be a COLD match – the temperature had dropped and the wind was blowing hard. But we were warmed up and ready when the whistle finally blew.

It was clear from the start that this would be a very close match. The U19 players were tough and ran hard, but we fought for the ball and made it clear that we wanted to win. The score stayed close the whole first half as the wind pushed kicks and line-out throws completely off-target. Towards the end of the half, however, the PRU pulled ahead with a full-team try, slowly but surely punching the ball forward meter by meter, calmly making the gain line every phase until finally the ball crossed the line to be grounded by team forward effort.

The second half began as the day faded into twilight. The U19 team scored another try to bring the score near even, but the PRU team answered with a try of our own, putting us back in the lead. Still, it was by no means a sure thing, with the U19s forcing us back into our own 22. However, we successfully defended our turf (“PROTECT THIS HOUSE!!” as Dominique reminded us), and before the final whistle, we pushed another hard-won forward try into the try zone to finish with a 22-12 win.

By the time the game was over, the sun had nearly set and everyone was frozen numb, but we were ecstatic. We’d worked hard and played hard and had a great weekend. We got together one last time for a team photo and for Philly to name Lyndsey “Nips” Gibson (the AU captain) Player of the Match, then bundled up to finally head home, cold and exhausted but happy.

Photos on my Facebook

Congratulations to all my teammates for a match well-played, and I look forward to playing with and against every one of you!

2008 PRU U23

Sarah Brown (American U.)
Sarah Buhlman (Chesapeake)
Dominique Bunai (MD Exiles)
Julie Butner (DC Furies)
Loretta Charles (George Washington U.)
Sarah Childers (MD Stingers)
Jane Dewire (Georgetown U.)
Jessie Garth (MD Stingers)
Lyndsey Gibson (American U.)
Sara Gimmy (DC Furies)
Tanya Gouws (MD Exiles)
Krysi Hermes (American U.)
Liz Hilliard (American U.)
Alysia Holsey (U. Maryland)
Sarah Holzman (NOVA)
Bridget Kapinus (Georgetown U.)
Maura McGraw (George Washington U.)
Laura Miller (St. Mary's C.M.)
Lindsay Nugent (American U.)
Anne Paschke (MD Stingers)
Olivia Payne (U. Maryland)
Caitlin Webster (U. Maryland)
Mary Emma Young (DC Furies)

Coach Kenny Pope
Assistant Coaches: Tosan Tutse-Tonwe and Deanna Church

Hyde Rugby

I love this article from the New York Times on one of the boys' rugby teams here in DC: High School Team Breaks Down Barriers. My favorite part is:

All sports can help break down racial and cultural barriers, but certain elements of rugby make it especially suited. With its raw physicality and traditional postgame bonding, rugby forces an intimacy among opponents not found in many other sports.


A little early morning reading before I head off on my road trip to play some U23 rugby in Philly!

Excitement

On Monday I crashed GW's practice to keep my head and body in rugby-mode - I want to be sure I'm prepared for the U23 tournament this weekend. I had enough fun that I'm going again today.

I'm sitting here at work, trying to get a little more work done before I have to leave, but I'm finding it hard to concentrate. I keep bouncing my foot and looking at the clock - is it rugby time yet? Now? How about... now?

And I realize that this is why I'm so committed to rugby. I've been playing for a few years now and been to dozens and dozens of practices, but knowing that in half an hour I'll be out on a pitch (albeit rocky, slanted, and covered in DUCKS), my adrenaline starts flowing and I start getting excited. Because soon, I'll be doing what I love - RUGBY!

Spectating!

This weekend was an exciting one for women's rugby, as D1 and D2 teams from around the country battled it out in Florida. However, considering that my participation in nationals was limited to the occasional text message update ("We lost our morning game," etc.), and the weekend is well documented elsewhere (Blondie, Wendy, USA Rugby, D2 website), I will post about MY weekend.


For the first time in ages, I had no rugby to play for myself - no Stingers matches, no PRU U23 tryouts, no MARFU camp, nothing. Faced with the odd experience of no rugby games to play, I found myself two rugby games to watch!

On Saturday, I went to see Georgetown and George Washington face off in the D2 championship. As I understand, both teams have gone undefeated all season, and the match was expected to be quite the standoff.

I'm happy to report that both teams lived up to expectations. George Washington scored a try in the first few moments of the game (sadly, before I made it to the pitch), but after that, it was a deadlock. Play ranged up and down the pitch, and both teams spent considerable time in their opposition's 22, but neither could penetrate the defense long enough to score a try. The ball was evenly contested in scrums and lineouts (the latter particularly fun because two of my PRU teammates were jumping against each other in the first pod), both teams forced turnovers and displayed some crafty back play, and all in all it was a very exciting game to watch.

In the end, neither team could make it through to the tryzone, so GW's first try made the difference and won them the game. Congratulations to George Washington as the PRU D2 champs! But kudos to Georgetown as well for a match beautifully fought.

On Sunday, I headed over to American to watch my old team play Penn State. Unfortunately, that game was not nearly so even - over the past few years, Penn State has consistently remained one of the top college women's teams in the country, while American remains a club sport at a small liberal arts school without a lot of emphasis on athletics. Still, it was good to see my old teammates in action, say hi to everyone I knew, and see the new rookies play.

I brought my camera to both games and got some good photos, posted on my Facebook page for anyone to check out.

PRU U23 selections

Just got the official selections for this year's U23 team! I'm really excited about the skill and range of the players - we have representation from all three local D1 women's teams and two of the D2 clubs, as well as players from both local D1 college sides. On Sunday, we had an invitational scrimmage to help K. Pope finalize selections. We played Chesapeake, one of the local D2 women's clubs headed to nationals this weekend, and I was really impressed with everyone's performance.

The PRU hasn't won a game in the MARFU tournament for a few years now... maybe this year's our year?

2008 PRU U23

Sarah Brown (American U.)
Sarah Buhlman (Chesapeake)
Dominique Bunai (MD Exiles)
Julie Butner (DC Furies)
Loretta Charles (George Washington U.)
Sarah Childers (MD Stingers)
Likfung Laurel Chor (Georgetown U.)
Jane Dewire (Georgetown U.)
Jessie Garth (MD Stingers)
Lyndsey Gibson (American U.)
Sara Gimmy (DC Furies)
Tanya Gouws (MD Exiles)
Krysi Hermes (American U.)
Liz Hilliard (American U.)
Alysia Holsey (U. Maryland)
Sarah Holzman (NOVA)
Bridget Kapinus (Georgetown U.)
Maura McGraw (George Washington U.)
Laura Miller (St. Mary's C.M.)
Lindsay Nugent (American U.)
Anne Paschke (MD Stingers)
Olivia Payne (U. Maryland)
Caitlin Webster (U. Maryland)
Mary Emma Young (DC Furies)

Schedule
November 15 (Edgely Soccer Field C)
11:00 Game 1 EPRU v MARFU U-19
1:00 Game 2 VRU v PRU

November 16 (Edgely Rugby Field)
11:00 Winner Game 1 v. Winner Game 2
1:00 Loser Game 1 v. Loser Game 2

"Women love contact"

I am thinking up a nice post about the PRU U23 scrimmage this past Sunday, but I'm currently far too distracted by the Election (yes! capitalized!) to sit still long enough to write it.

In the meantime, I found this lovely article on women's rugby, focusing on St. Mary's and NCAA recognition:

Women find rugby a good match
By Carl Steward

An excerpt:

"What I like about it is it can be pouring rain and you're dead tired but you're still having so much fun," said Wendy Amador, a Saint Mary's sophomore from Livermore High. "You don't want it to stop."

Women's rugby literally bashes all stereotypes about a female's ability to play a rough sport with the same verve and volatility as men.

"I like intense games, and rugby gives me an adrenaline rush," said Hayward native Bianca Mira, who attended Bishop O'Dowd High in Oakland. "It's way better than basketball, where you just get elbowed here and there. Rugby dispels myths. Women love contact."

Chesapeake in the news!

Interesting article in the Sunday Baltimore Examiner on Chesapeake making it to nationals (although I'm not sure where they got the idea that Chesapeake is the only women's senior team in Maryland - USA Rugby claims three and I can think of at least two more!)


These women really love a good scrum

By Emily Campbell
Examiner Staff Writer 10/24/08



The Chesapeake Ospreys is only senior women’s rugby team in Maryland.

In her junior year at LaSalle University, Baltimore resident Jillian Szczepaniak-Gillece started a women’s rugby team. The reason?

“We were bored, and we wanted to hit people,” she recalled, laughing. “Stupid things seem really smart when you’re in college.”

But the “wrong” decision turned out to be quite right. Now 27, Szczepaniak-Gillece is the vice-president and an active member of the Chesapeake Ospreys, the only senior women’s rugby team in Baltimore.

“I really missed being on a female team. And this is a very diverse group. We have girls that have never played a team sport in their lives; we have some girls who have played rugby for 10 years,” she said. “It’s not a group you would necessarily see put together in public, but we look really mean on the field.”

The team is made up of 30 women, ranging in age from 19 to 36. There are teachers, scientists and financial advisors among the group. Szczepaniak-Gillece, a social worker, said that playing on the team serves to relieve aggression from everyday stress.

“It’s a lot of discipline and teamwork, and it’s tremendous to be able to play with such great people. The camaraderie is just outstanding, and being competitive in a sport is something a lot of people don’t have access to. Plus, once you get into it, you get really hooked. Not only is it a neat sport to watch, but there’s a very social aspect to it as well.”

Jeff Adamczyk, head coach for the women’s rugby team at Towson University, has been playing rugby for the past 15 years and coaching for seven. “Rugby is an emerging sport,” Adamczyk, 35, said.

“Most people my age started playing rugby in college, but there are a lot of high school teams now, both boys and girls. It’s in a different mindset than it was five years ago. There’s a barrier to be broken, but it’s getting there, and [the sport] will continue to grow.”

Adamczyk said a lot of people are surprised by how popular rugby has become.

“Pretty much every college in the country has a rugby team. I think it’s around more than most people think,” he said. “And it’s one of the true gender equity sports — the rules are exactly the same for men as they are for women.”

The Ospreys are heading to Florida Nov. 7 to compete at the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union Championship. They are the only Maryland team competing.

“When we’re out on the field, we’re definitely having a really good time, but we’re really ferocious and competitive,” Szczepaniak-Gillece said. “We’re the third birds in town, and we’re just as tough.”

LEND THEM A HAND
The Ospreys are hosting a benefit on Wednesday at Padonia Station, 63 E. Padonia Road in Timonium, to raise money for their championship bid in Florida. For information, visit chesapeakerugby.com.

Nationals part 2

Spent most of Sunday driving to and from the PRU U23 tryouts all the way out in Salisbury. Turn out was pretty low, owing to the location (sorry, Salisbury, but you're in the middle of nowhere) and to a number of PRU college teams having matrix matches. The day ended a bit earlier than expected, so my Furies carpool-mates and I stopped on the way home to buy pumpkins and feed goats.

We also got real-time text updates from Missouri on the Furies game vs. Beantown... as you'd guess from the final score (86-5), it was none too pretty. Bummer for them - looks like DC and NOVA are going all the way to Florida just to play each other!

Full results:

Day 2
Minnesota Valkyries 31, Keystone 0
San Diego Surfers 36, Philadelphia 8
New York 28, NOVA 5
ORSU 27, Glendale 24
Beantown 86, Washington Furies 5
Seattle 13, Chicago North Shore 12
Berkeley All Blues 64, Twin Cities Amazons 8
Atlanta Harlequins 19, Boston 5

And games for D1 national finals in Florida:

Championship Semis
Berkeley All Blues vs. Minnesota Valkyries
New York vs. Beantown

Plate Semis
Twin Cities Amazons vs. Keystone
NOVA vs. Washington Furies



Down in the Bahamas, the women's US 7s team lost 14-19 to Canada in the finals, qualifying both teams for the world cup. I believe the game will be posted online at some point... can't wait to watch it!

Couch rugger - NAWIRA and Nationals, day 1

It's been a pretty good rugby Saturday even though I haven't played a minute myself - spent the day watching the NAWIRA qualifiers live, which was wonderful even though I could never really figure out who was playing who. It seems that the US women kicked ass, though.

And out in Missouri at Nationals, MARFU women had a pretty good showing - NOVA beat ORSU 15-5 and Furies beat North Shore 37-12, though Philly lost 10-41 to the Minnesota Valkyries. Can't wait to hear how the matches tomorrow go - although I'll have to wait until I get home, as instead of watching the itty bitty feed from the Bahamas and refreshing USA Rugby looking for scores, I'll be spending the day up in Salisbury trying out for the PRU U23 team. Mmmm, rugby weekend.


From USA Rugby:

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. – The USA Rugby Senior Women’s Club Playoffs kicked off at Sportport sports complex on Saturday, with all but one of the higher seeded teams emerging out front in day one of competition.

The day kicked off with the No. 4 seeded Minnesota Valkyries taking on Philadelphia. In the end it was the Midwest team that prevailed, 41-10 at the final whistle. Minnesota will take on Keystone RFC, who started out its playoff run with a 17-5 victory over the San Diego Surfers in the first match of the day when competition resumes on Sunday.

No. 3 seeded New York pushed past Glendale 43-12 and will now face Northern Virginia (NOVA) in Sunday’s competition. The No. 11 seed NOVA team pulled the day's only upset, muscling past No. 6 Oregon Sports Union (ORSU) in the first round 15-5 to stay in the hunt for the title.

Meanwhile, last year’s Championship runners up from Beantown put up the strongest showing of the day, putting down Seattle 89-12 in their playoffs opener. The Boston team now goes on to face fellow Mid-Atlantic competitors the Washington Furies, who defeated Chicago North Shore 37-12, in tomorrow’s competition.

Rounding out a full day of play, reigning champions the Berkeley All Blues topped the Boston Women 45-10 and will now face the Twin Cities Amazons when the tournament resumes tomorrow. The Minnesota squad shut down the Atlanta Harlequins 45-12 in day one

Competition picks up again bright and early on Sunday morning, lasting from 9:30 a.m. through about 4:30 p.m. Please see below for the complete match schedule. Tickets to the event will be sold at the gate for $5 per day.

As the road to crowning the 2008 Women’s Club champions continues, the top eight finishers will next travel to the Seminole Soccer Complex in Sanford, Fla. for the Championships on November 7-9, 2008.
For more information on the USA Rugby Women’s Club Playoffs or Championships series, please visit www.usarugby.org or contact Director of Competition Dan Payne at dpayne@usarugby.org.

Senior Women’s Club Playoffs
Results – Day 1, October 25
Minnesota Valkyries 41, Philadelphia 10
Keystone 17, San Diego 5
New York 43, Glendale 12
Northern Virginia (NOVA) 15, Oregon Sport Union (ORSU) 5
Beantown 89, Seattle 12
Washington Furies 37, Chicago North Shore 12
Berkeley All Blues 45, Boston 10
Twin Cities Amazons 45, Atlanta Harlequins 12

Day 2 Schedule, October 26
9:30 a.m. Field A – Minnesota Valkyries vs. Keystone
9:30 a.m. Field B – Philadelphia vs. San Diego Surfers
11:15 a.m. Field A – New York vs. NOVA
11:15 a.m. Field B – Glendale vs. ORSU
1 p.m. Field A – Beantown vs. Washington Furies
1 p.m. Field B – Seattle vs. Chicago North Shore
2:45 p.m. Field A – Berkeley vs. Twin Cities
2:45 p.m. Field B – Boston vs. Atlanta Harlequins

D2 Nationals

Found the D2 Nationals info! Apparently Women's D2 Rugby has its own website... who knew?!


November 8/9, 2008
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE!!!
Saturday

Game 1 - 9:00am: Detroit vs Chesapeake
Game 2 - 9:00am: Miami vs Northeast #1
Game 3 - 11:00am: Cincinnati vs Brandywine
Game 4 - 11:00am: Orlando vs Northeast #2

Game 5 - 1:00pm: Winner Game 1 vs Winner Game 2
Game 6 - 1:00pm: Loser Game 1 vs Loser Game 2
Game 7 - 3:00pm: Winner Game 3 vs Winner Game 4
Game 8 - 3:00pm: Loser Game 3 vs Loser Game 4


Sunday - Times TBA to coordinate with DI National Finals

Game 9 - xx:xxam: Loser Game 6 vs Loser Game 8
Game 10 - xx:xxam: Winner Game 6 vs Winner Game 8
Game 11 - xx:xxam: Loser Game 5 vs Loser Game 7
Game 12 - xx:xxpm: Winner Game 5 vs Winner Game 7

Standings for Nationals

I will admit, I'm not usually very good at following rugby outside of my own union. But whenever playoffs roll around, my interest in the state of US women's rugby peaks - especially this season, my first on the club side of things rather than the collegiate. And since the first round of nationals are this weekend, I've spent the afternoon figuring out which of my MARFU teams are playing who:


MARFU D1 rankings:
1 Washington
2 NOVA
3 Philadelphia

And MARFU D2 (even though it seems they play nationals Nov 1/2? I'm having a hard time figuring this out, if anyone wants to help!):
1 Brandywine
2 Chesapeake
3 Norfolk
4 Severn River


October 25th schedule:

Saturday
1 Minnesota Valkyries (MW #1) vs. Philadelphia (MARFU #3)
2 Keystone (NRU #3) vs. San Diego Surfers (SoCal #1)
3 New York (NRU #2) vs. Glendale (West #1)
4 ORSU (PC #2) vs. NOVA (MARFU #2)
5 Beantown (NRU #1) vs. Seattle Breakers (PC #3)
6 Washington Furies (MARFU #1) vs. Chicago North Shore (MW #3)
7 Berkeley All Blues (PC #1) vs. Boston (NRU #4)
8 Atlanta Harlequins (South #1) vs. Twin Cities Amazons (MW #2)

Sunday
9 Winner match 1 vs Winner Match 2
10 Loser Match 1 vs. Loser Match 2
11 Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4
12 Loser Match 3 vs Loser Match 4
13 Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6
14 Loser Match 5 vs. Loser Match 6
15 Winner Match 7 vs. Winner Match 8
16 Loser Match 7 vs. Loser Match 8

WNT MARFU camp

This Sunday I had the opportunity to attend a MARFU camp led by Women's National Team coaches Kathy Flores, Candi Orsini, and Krista McFarren. It was a great experience to be exposed to some very high-level coaching with a group of high-level players. The group was mostly Maryland, DC, and NOVA, with pretty good representation from Philadelphia. I have to admit, it was a little intimidating to be out there with such a talented group of women – I had to keep reminding myself that I'm a Division I A-side athlete, too, even if I'm nowhere near the same level as most of the players!

We warmed up with a game of double-touch and stretched before splitting into backs and the forwards. We forwards spent our entire split time on the same drill - running it, stopping and discussing, then running it again, over and over. It was incredibly rewarding to learn so much from a very intensive session with one simple drill.

Next, backs and forwards recombined to do a tackling drill working on body position in the tackle, with the tackled player trying to pike or lay full-out to provide the smallest gate possible and the tackler attempting to get up facing forward ready to poach the ball as soon as possible. Eventually one offensive supporter was added to protect against the poach by staying low and directly over the body of her tackled teammate. Then our last drill before lunch worked with different decision making in a wide field versus a narrow space.

After lunch, we warmed up with a game of ruck touch before spending the afternoon working on defensive alignment. We focused a lot on defending against an overload - Kathy introduced the concept of setting up a slightly staggered defensive line, so that the defender on the outside would be able to watch her teammate on the inside, who focused on "pushing" the line out.

We then did a few drills on the defensive alignment around a ruck, focusing on positions I've previously called "post, guard, runner"; that Kathy called "post, X, Y"; and that the Furies called "anchor, guard dog, ATTACK DOG!!" Regardless of your terminology, the first position focuses on the ball and the channel directly next to the ruck; the second takes care of forwards on a punch, the scrumhalf on a scoot, or the flyhalf; and the third position guns it for "one" or the flyhalf position. Finally, we combined these concepts with our earlier drills on overloads and "pushing."

All in all, it was an extremely educational day. I took a lot away about how to improve my personal performance and about new ways to think about my team on the pitch, and went home full of a love of the game - and a strong desire for a nap!

ACL injury prevention

Ages and ages ago, I read and bookmarked this New York Times article, The Uneven Playing Field, that talks about how women and girls tear their ACLs disproportionately often in comparison to men.

One of the causes of this (according to the article) is that females tend to move differently than men - for example, "Girls tend to run differently than boys — in a less-flexed, more-upright posture — which may put them at greater risk when changing directions and landing from jumps."

The article also describes "a customized warm-up of stretching, strengthening and balancing exercises," designed to prevent ACL injuries. Of course I read that and thought, Sign me up! Like most rugby players I've had teammates tear an ACL (or MCL, or meniscus...) and it's something I want to avoid if at all possible.

Of course, the New York Times article didn't actually describe what those exercises were.

But recently, I found this American Physical Therapy Association pdf - Exercises to Help Prevent ACL injuries. Six exercises designed "to improve strength, flexibility, and coordination,
as well as to counteract incorrect existing patterns of movement that may be damaging to their joints".

Score! I know what I'm adding to my fitness routine.

Philadelphia vs. Maryland

Philly is, by all accounts, a difficult team to scrum against.

To be a lock on the smaller side of locks, against a pack on the large side of packs, is especially difficult.

And when I ended up being the larger of Maryland's locks?

Let's just say that those scrums were very inspirational, in the sense that I am now extremely motivated to head to a gym. Because my lack of gym-going recently was very, very unhelpful on Saturday.

Locking body position

When I first started locking - that is, when I first got dragged over from wing to be a flanker, and occasionally got thrown in to lock during practice - I learned to start on my knees. Put my head in low between my front row, then go up and make eye contact with the lock across from me.

Then I went to a MARFU scrum clinic with Lisa Rosen, and we talked about good body position and the advantages of second rows starting in a stable body position on her feet. Putting the head straight between my prop and hooker, and keeping it in a neutral position, looking through my eyebrows and "over the sunglasses".

After that, I felt much more comfortable when I needed to step in at lock, whether during practice or in games. I was more stable starting on my feet, instead of frantically trying to pop up and readjust my body position in the seconds before "Engage!" So I became a huge advocate of starting in that crouched position, stabilizing myself with my prop and ready to power forward instead of just resting on the ground.

That is, until I started locking for Maryland. We're short on second rows so I've primarily been playing there rather than in the back row. However, I've been having trouble getting stable - the front row has a different cadence than I'm used to, and it gets them lower, but has been throwing me off.

Until last night, when Maria suggested that I start on my knees, and wait to get up into good scrumming position until after the front row had dropped - but well before the ref starts calling the cadence.

And wouldn't you know, it worked! I guess there are advantages to both methods; now I'm just trying to figure out what, exactly they are, so I can begin using both more intelligently depending on who I'm second rowing behind.

On losing

There was recently an interesting article in the New York Times called Lessons Learned in the Losing. The author's basic point is that, in a winning-obsessed culture, there's still plenty of good to be found in a loss.

It's a particularly appropriate article considering how the past two weekends have gone for Maryland.

Two Saturdays ago, we played a heart-breaker against Raleigh in skin-melting heat and humidity. Despite the weather, it sure felt like we were winning - we kept up a strong defense, forcing turnovers, and kept possession well while moving the ball up the pitch - but when it was all said and done, we couldn't finish it. Though we spent a good chunk of time inside Raleigh's 22, we only managed to get the ball across the try line once. Added to a brief breakdown in our defensive line which Raleigh quickly took advantage of to turn the corner and run in a try, and we ended up on the losing end of a 5-7 scoreboard. It was an incredibly frustrating loss.

This weekend felt much, much different. We met the DC Furies on the PAC pitch across from the Washington Monument - the weather was beautiful, and we should've been ready for a great day of rugby, but everyone started out off. Our warm-up was messy and full of dropped balls; not surprisingly, the beginning of the game wasn't much better. As we missed our tackles, sat on our heels in defense, and got dominated in our own scrums, DC ran in try after try.

We were losing, no question about it. Standing in our own try zone as the Furies kicked yet another conversion, we weren't talking about winning anymore - just about how we were going to play.

And we pulled it together. First in the scrum - we stopped losing our own scrums and controlled a few defensive scrums well enough to wheel. Then out on the pitch, we got lower and hit harder on the tackles, keeping DC out of our 22 for the majority of the half. Alas, we never scored our own try, but even with a losing score of a lot to nothing, knowing we could pull ourselves together in a bad situation felt pretty good.

Two different losses, neither of which felt like winning. The first was a solid, well-played game where our performance didn't translate to the score board; the second showed how much passion we have for the game. Now our task is to hold onto our strengths and improve our weaknesses to play a coherent game that puts points on the board and a W on our record.

3 reasons...

Our assistant coach Maria asked us all to think of three things that make us want to play rugby. At first I kind of rolled my eyes - geez, that's awfully touchy-feely! - but then I stared to wonder:

What is it that makes me keep coming back to this sport? Keep playing when it's so hot I get dizzy and wobbly, or so cold that it goes from numbness to pain? Come back from a Saturday that leaves me bruised and sore and achy to go to another practice to get ready for another Saturday? Push myself to go to the gym and do sprints because I just want to get better on the pitch?

Here's my top three:

1) Hitting a ruck and feeling it move backwards because of you.

2) Teammates - no game is won on one player alone and working 15 as 1 is a goal worth getting out on the pitch for.

3) Being able to walk off the field at the end of the day and think, I did something good today. I hurt but it's worth it. That sense of accomplishment that goes down to your bones.

And that's what I'll think about up until tomorrow's game.

Pumpkinfest 2008

This past weekend was my first time at Pumkinfest. After a long drive, made longer by getting lost before we found Pennypack Field (tucked cozily between a river and a jail-slash-mental-hospital), I was ready to kit up, get out on the pitch, and play. The weather was oppressive - Hurricane Tropical Storm Hanna was heavy in the air, and everyone was drenched in sweat just a few minutes into warm-ups.

However, that did not deter the Stingers. Our first match was at 9:00am versus Atlanta, and we were ready for what would be a long, tough game. Though we only played two 20-minute halves, it felt much longer to me as I locked in scrum after scrum after scrum, painfully aware both of how out of shape I am and that Maryland had no second row subs.

When the ball stayed in tight, the match was fairly even, and neither team could create enough of an advantage to score. However, Atlanta clearly had the upper hand on the outside, scoring two tries in each half by capitalizing on their speed and ball-handling skills and our slowness in spreading the defensive line to turn the corner on the wing. With no conversions, the final score stood 20-0 in Atlanta’s favor.

Shortly thereafter, it began raining, and park officials announced they were closing the park at 1:00, effectively canceling the rest of the games for the afternoon. We headed back to the hotel to check in, shower, and relax for a few hours.

The Maryland Stingers, dressed en theme as Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkinfest, met up for team dinner at Lucy’s Hat Shop. Over french fries, quesadillas, chicken fingers, and adult beverages, a great time was had by all.

After finishing off our food and figuring out the tab, most of us headed over to Cavanaugh's Riverdeck for the official social. It was great to see all the teams’ costume themes. Personal favorites were Nova as secret agents, the Raleigh superheroes, and all of Frederick as Rosie the Riveters. Philly handed out glow bracelets freely, and the weather had cleared up enough to open up an outdoor dance floor overlooking the water and the night skyline; however, it had been a long day and it wasn’t long before your humble Pink headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.

Sunday dawned beautiful, clear, and breezy – perfect rugby weather. The Stingers kitted up to play New York at 9:40. We played another strong game, improving our defense to put pressure on NY, but despite an excellent performance on our part, the game still ended a lot to nothing in New York’s favor.

We wrapped up the tournament with a consolation match versus a motley side of Rochester and Frederick (some of whom were still sporting their Rosie lipstick from the social!). After prepping against two very tough teams, the Stingers came out strong to set the tone of the game. We kept up a strong defense and were able to put into play an aggressive offense with great support, resulting in several tries. I was overjoyed in the second half to be relieved at lock by my old teammate and American’s current captain, Nips, who capped off her Stinger’s cameo with a try. Final score was 26-7, Stinger’s favor.

Didn’t stay long enough to figure out what the final tournament results were, but I will be sure to post them when I can find them online!

And we're open!

So here it is - my official rugby blog. Finally up and running, after months of dreaming. Please excuse a bit of roughness around the edges; after all, I've never had a proper blog before.

Though the archives in this space go back three years, they have all been transferred from my "personal" journal; I created this blog for myself as more of a public space, a platform from which I can interact with other ruggers-who-blog without linking back to the more intimate, non-rugby details of my life.

Plus most of the readers of my personal journal are friends who, while I love them dearly, aren't ruggers and don't know a line-out from the touch line, and I wanted a space where I could delve into the finer points of rucking with at least a theoretical audience of sympathetic readers.

So that's what Rugger in Pink is for - and here I go.

And rugby's officially back in session

If this Saturday was any indication of how my rookie season with the Stingers is going to be, you can expect me to be quite the happy Pink for the next few months.

Exhausted.

But happy.

Our first game was an A-side match versus Chesapeake, played at the so-called Holocaust Field located next to the Smithsonian Holocaust Museum, across the street from the Washington National Monument. I haven't played on the mall since Cherry Blossom sophomore year, so that was quite a treat.

Apparently, the last time the Stingers played Chesapeake, the results were not so good, and everyone was determined to come out and show them who the better team was. I'm proud to say that we did, with gusto. The Stingers kicked ass 39-0, scoring six tries by six different people, with Heather kicking three conversions and one penalty. We worked at the early-season kinks as we played, improving the further into the game we got - at the half when the score stood at 12-0, Maddy insisted on another 30 points, and we did our best by adding 27 to the score board.

As for myself, I went in at lock in the second half, and ended up coming out a bit early when I hurt my shoulder [nothing serious, fine with a good stretching]. However, in the thirty minutes I was in, I managed a pretty decent showing - one of those six tries was mine. My first game, too! It was a "support" try; a few of my teammates had a good breakaway, and all I did was keep up with them in time to pick the ball out of the back of the ruck and dive the few meters into the tryzone.

Following the main event was a two-thirds Pax River/one-third Stingers side playing the Furies B. Pax River is a small side that has trouble getting a full side out to games (thus the Stinger supplements), but played a pretty decent game, though our motley didn't score any tries. I played the first twenty of this match as strong side flanker.


After the match finished up and we all slapped off most of the dust from the pitch, we headed to the Bottom Line for pasta and beer. With representatives from all four teams - Stingers, Chesapeake, Pax River, and Furies - it was a pretty busy time. I got to know my own teammates better, sat down and chatted with players I'd never met before, and reconnected with acquaintances I rarely see off the pitch.

Post-social I ended up heading straight to Baltimore for a teammate's bachelorette barcrawl - rugby-themed, so no need to stop home to grab clean clothes! It was a diverse collection of friends, from rugby, work, and school, and all of us did our best to give her a proper send-off before she heads into the wilds of matrimony.

All in all, a good Saturday to start the season.

Now I'm a Stingers rook

RUGBY SEASON HAS STARTED! We had our first practice Thursday and I am MAD EXCITED to have my favorite thing back in my life. It's kind of interesting to be a rookie on a team where, between AU alums and Stinger 7s, I already know and have played with 90% of my 'new' teammates. Lacking in the excitement of meeting tons of new people, but of course a little less stressful.

At the first practice, there was also a legit rookie rookie, who's never played rugby before ever, but I think she's going to be a great player - she'd done soccer and football before, but she also got lifting in the lineout done perfectly by her second lift. Yay!

Rugerrama 7s

This turned out to be the last week of sevens for the Stingers - indeed, a truly sad state of affairs - but Ruggerama was definitely a good ending note.

The tournament is hosted by the NoVa women at Rosecroft Raceway right outside DC, and it's the only all-women's tournament we've been to this summer. After seeing most of the same teams every weekend for the past month or so, playing a tournament that was both local and single-sex felt kind of cozy. There were only two pitches to play on, 11 teams in 2 divisions, and lots of camaraderie.

The Stingers entered in the social division, and in the morning we played the Furies' second side and Georgetown for two wins before losing to the Maryland Exiles' second side. After a short break (during which I was convinced to buy one of the awesome tournament T-shirts - I am so broke, but it was so cute - green with a pink fish!), everyone was seeded for the finals.

We were seeded third (I believe) to play the Exiles 2 again. We lost (again), and ended up playing Furies 2 (again) and won (again). It was overall a great day of sevens rugby - I felt like I was finally getting the hang of how to play this bastard step-child version of the fifteens game I know and love... just in time for the end of sevens season. Oh, well!

NoVa 4 ended up winning our division, and then everyone was treated to a U15 exhibition sevens game. I hadn't even realized that there were U15 girls' teams in the area, but apparently there are two! Both were from Virginia, and we were all pretty impressed with the girls' skills. They had a lot of smart runs and good tackles, and all the spectators were cheering hard for both sides. I hope most of those players stick it out through college and club-side teams - I'm sure ten years from now, some of them will be playing for the national Eagles team and representing the US at the world cup!

The day finished up with a game slightly closer to Eagle-level as NoVa 1 played the Furies to win their tournament (again). Everyone then gathered for a raffle and presentation of our winnings - pitchers for the teams that placed, and bottles of champagne for everyone who participated!




And thus ended my first sevens season. I have to say, I really enjoyed this new kind of rugby. It's much faster and more dynamic than fifteens, and the game gives me an opportunity to do the things I don't get to do as much when I play in the scrum, like passing the ball and making long runs. I think I definitely improved my ball-handling and sprinting skills, and I might be starting to figure out my footwork as well. I also ended up playing scrumhalf, which was a new position for me (though very different from a 15s scrumhalf) and quite fun. I do wish that our season could have run longer (or that fewer of the Stingers took the summer off!), but I'm already looking forward to next summer.

Cape Fear

Rugby, the beach, fireworks, hot athletic women, meeting new people in hilarious and alcohol-tinged escapades... if Julie Andrews and I were hanging around in lacy nightgowns talking about my favorite things, the list might go a little something like this.

But as much as I love Julie Andrews, that's not what I'm thinking about to distract me from a big scary thunderstorm. That list's more like my schedule of events from this past July 4th weekend.

A seven-hour drive, thirteen ruggers in a six-person hotel room three blocks from a beach in North Carolina, the "oldest and largest sevens rugby tournament in the United States," and a stream of alcoholic beverages as steady as the crashing of the waves on the sand. That, in a nutshell, is Cape Fear Sevens.

The weekend started off at the ungodly hour of 5am on July 4th. But though I might have been reluctant to leave my warm, cozy (and, might I add, double-occupancy) bed at an hour when even the birds were barely beginning to consider that perhaps it might begin to be morning soon, I had to admit that the timing was right when we arrived at Wrightsville Beach by noon with plenty of time to pull on bikinis, slather on some sunscreen, grab a cooler full of beer and enjoy the sand and the sun like the proper American citizens we are.

I must take a second here to mention how much I love the beach. It's not often I get an opportunity to visit one, but when I do I can't help but gush over the beauty of a carpet of shells ground to a fine powder by the hypnotically mesmerizing repetition of beating buckets of salt water. And you'd better believe that we hit that beach every single day that we were down there, and that every time we were there I made it out into the ocean to play chicken with the cresting waves.

But one cannot live on beach alone (much as I'd like to try!), and after all, it was July the Fourth, the Day of Our Nation's Independence Celebration - and being as I haven't been in the country for the holiday for the past two summers, I couldn't wait for that seminal expression of what countless generations of patriotic American citizens have fought, bled, and died for: the freedom to ignite large, loud, colorful explosives in front of crowds of hot, sweaty people.



And oh, but friends, those fireworks were worth the wait. Though only Nuge and I were interested enough in our country's freedom to fight through the crowds to find a small square of sidewalk from which we could watch the show, instead of staying home and drinking by the hotel pool, we definitely felt that it was everyone else missing out on all the fun. It's been so long since I've gone to see a firework show, I forgot how fantastic they were - the explosions! the colors! the rockets that screech on the way up and the ones that sizzle on the way down! rainbow fireworks, red-white-and-blue fireworks, silver and gold and purple and green fireworks!

You can, I hope, forgive my mature, adult, twenty-two-year-old self for literally jumping up and down and clapping and laughing with glee.

The long traffic-jam home, followed by a joyful reunion of friends, beer, and splashy fun in the hotel pool rounded out my happy celebration of our Independence Day.

***

Saturday dawned on phone alarms and joking and the organizational acrobatics of thirteen girls with one bathroom. Eventually, however, everyone had successfully collected themselves and their kits and we headed off to the Cape Fear pitch, where the tournament coordinator (happily lurching about under a fisherman's hat and a boozey aura) directed us towards our first match. We kitted up, donned our warm-ups, and headed over.

Now, a quick word about our team uniforms: our usual jerseys are heavy, tough affairs, several sizes too large for just about anybody and as breathable as your average raincoat. Not ideal for a game which is essentially two seven-minute halves of sprinting in the Carolina heat. So on the way to the beach, a car full of teammates was dispatched to Target to pick up some nice, light, sleeveless tops - which they did, choosing a not-quite-eye-scarring shade of greenish-turquoise.

On the way to the register, however, they chanced to pass by the sale rack in the Outrageous department, and impulsively decided that we required warm-up jackets as well.

Short-sleeved, midriff-baring, zebra-lined, gold-accented, big-hooded warm-up jackets.

Which we all wore with the necessary accessories of sunglasses and acapella renditions of J Lo.

Representing the "Stingers From the Block" in the Women's Social division, we played "Whores R Us" (Savannah/Charleston) and won, then lost to the Raleigh Venom and the Hustlers. The team took a bit to gel - a lot of players who don't normally do sevens show up just for this tournament, so we hadn't exactly played together before - but we had some pretty nice plays, including a try by yours truly who managed to get the ball down in the try zone despite a rather speedy Hustler having caught up enough to get one hand in my waistband and the other on my collar.

Between our games, we guzzled water and Gatorade and wandered over to watch some of the excellent matches in the Women's Premier division. DC area represented with NOVA and the Furies, who were in turn matched against the Northeast territorial team, two USA developmental sides, and the Atlanta women. It is always a treat to be able to observe a field full of fit, talented, experienced athletes match their skills and speed against each other, and the games this weekend were no exception.

But let's be honest - Cape Fear is only somewhat about the rugby. The rest is about the socializing and the drinking. So we prepared for an evening of just that, lazing about on the beach, taking naps and showers and generally refueling. Our relaxed evening was only breifly interrupted by two of our teammates getting caught in the elevator and having to call 911 for a firetruck to come get them out.

It's perhaps one of my favorite scenes from the weekend: two of us hidden in the elevator, one (soberly and anxiously) standing on the street corner watching for the fire truck, the rest of us standing on the balcony, beers in hand, excitedly pointing out the flashing lights we'd just sighted a few blocks away.

After that, it was a typical long night of story-telling and making new friends to the tune of $2 beers, and the clock was reading well past midnight by the time we made it back to the room to crash three-to-a-bed to sleep. But come morning, we were up and at 'em again - after all, there were bagels to eat, teammates who came home at 7:30 am to tease, and most of all, rugby to be played.

Not that we seemed prepared for an intense day of athletic endeavor. The sunglasses were on, the zebra-striped hoods were up, and to call our warm-up half-hearted would be generous. By some coincidence of bracketing, we were playing Whores R Us for the second time, and they seemed determined to make up their loss of the day before: while we stood in a circle and lazily tossed around a ball, they ran opposed plays off of scrums and lineouts.

I've got to admit that in the first moments before stepping onto the pitch, I did not feel optimistic about our chances. But when the whistle blew, it was like a switch had been flipped, and we abruptly forgot that we were supposed to be tired and hungover and started doing what we do best: playing rugby. All our playing time together the day before finally paid off, and we started playing together like a team instead of seven individuals. We not only beat the Whores for a second time, but also kept them from scoring a single try of their own.

Walking back to our tent, warm-ups on and a teammate holding up speakers blaring "Move, Bitch, Get Out the Way," I did feel like a giant asshole, yes; but a try-scorin', ass-kickin', rugby playin' asshole.

Our momentum held up for the first half of our second game against Raleigh (which I did not play, since I was also feeling like a slightly concussed asshole who forgets that she ought not pull people down on top of her head in the tackle and whose vision has gone all spackled on one side), but by the second half it became obvious which was the better team. Raleigh's speedy wingers took advantage of our untidy, bunchy defensive line to run around the outside and score a bunch of tries.

After their win, Raleigh ended up in the final against the Hustlers (I swear there were six teams in our division, but we didn't ever see the other two). It was an exciting, close-fought match that displayed the skills of both teams, but the Hustlers clearly had a tighter, faster game, and swept in an excellent win before a crowd of cheering spectators.

Having finished with the rugby portion of our weekend, we said goodbye to those of us who had not been fortunate enough to get off work on Monday, tracked down some food and then went off to the beach again before we headed out to the NOVA house for more genial socializing.

The NOVA women, it turns out, had not been lazing about. They had gotten right into the business of partying, partially in celebration of someone's birthday but mostly just because that's what you do when you have a rugby house on the beach. We had dance parties and sing-a-longs and (as per the birthday girl's request) a drinking game to the Beep "http://coachingrugby.blogspot.com/2007/02/you-love-to-hate-it-beep-test.html">Test, which was simultaneously the most terrifying and most fantastic method of imbibing alochol that I have ever been fortunate enough to participate in.

Then, of course, it was out to the bar again. It's hard to pin down the best story of the evening - was it the over-enthusiastic 'cheers' that ended up with a smashed Corona bottle? The two girls who had hooked up the night before and studiously avoided each other all day collapsing on each other and then disappearing into the night for two hours? Our declaration that we would find a man for our single straight teammate, followed by her taking out a cute man with a British accent to the beach until 4 am? Or perhaps the local lesbian who showed up and practically went into shock to see the numbers of hot lesbians who had inexplicably shown up at her favorite beach bar, who of course twenty minutes later was my best friend? Or how she became the second hot girl of the evening to show up with (and make out with) someone else, but spend a good chunk of time flirting with me before insisting that we exchange phone numbers so we could maybe hang out again later?

And those are only the best stories.

Eventually, though, all good times must come to an end. Last call inevitably comes, beers must be finished, tabs closed, and beds (eventually) returned to.

Morning on Monday was a sluggish affair, as you may well imagine. But we managed to roll out of bed, rescue any remaining food in the room (all the alcohol was unsurprisingly already gone), and checkout of the hotel in time for a last few hours at the beach.

And then it was home again - home by way of Wawa and outlet shops, home slowly but surely. And by ten at night, I had returned, exhausted and salty with sand in places that sand really shouldn't be, but infinitely content.

Fort Reno Park Closed Immediately and Indefinitely

Fort Reno Park... is closed immediately and indefinitely after United States Geological Survey satellite imaging reports found high levels of arsenic in the soil.

This is the park that we use for rugby practice. We are supposed to be reassured by the fact that you can only get arsenic in your system through ingestion... but this is not particularly reassuring when you play rugby, a sport in which you use a mouthguard (that you'd better believe is frequently dropped in the mud) and spend a lot of time on the ground literally "eating dirt."

I guess this is what happens when you attend a university that was a WWI military base/weapons development center...

Live! Rugby! Online!

I am a happy, happy Pink: USA Rugby is broadcasting the collegiate women's D1 championships LIVE online!!

At first the page just flat-out wouldn't load. I was stuck g-chatting with everyone else who was (unsuccessfully) trying to get it to work, and I ended up just refreshing the USA Rugby homepage to get the scores of the Brown/Penn State game.

But then, about twenty minutes from the end, it started working! And oh man, but I just about had a complete scrumgasm. This is my division of rugby (even if these teams do honestly play on a different level than AU does). And it was pretty exciting to watch PSU beat the pants off of someone that wasn't us.

Right now it's half-time in the Stanford/Navy game. I was rooting for a Navy/PSU final (wouldn't it be cool if PRU D1 was AU, UMD, and the two best teams in the nation?) and for awhile, it looked possible - Navy spent a considerable portion of the first 30 minutes in Stanford's 22, but Stanford's defense was pretty impenetrable, and Navy finally took a 3 point kick off of a penalty.

However, in the end of the half Stanford scored not one, but two tries... here's hoping the next 40 minutes will go Navy's way!

AUWRFC and Pink: together for the last time

This weekend I played for AUWRFC for the last time. We entered into Ruggerfest, an all-female tournament hosted by the DC Furies.

Saturday, we played and beat Towson, then played (well) and lost to Nova's C side. The combination of the win/loss record and our point differential put us in a semifinal game vs. Lancaster. We lost, but it didn't feel like it - we played hard and well and scored two tries.

Now, one of those was a very special try - I scored it!!!! My third and final try for AU, in my last game playing for them.... and it was caught on video!!!!!!

What a way to end my AUWRFC career. Man.


However... the day wasn't over yet. Lancaster ended up needing subs for the final match, and I and one of my teammates volunteered. (My logic was that we'd played so well in the semifinal, AU deserved representation in the final!).

The ref we had was... abominable. Now, there are some pretty horrible refs out there... but this guy was the WORST I've ever had.

I bring this up to justify how I actually ended my season... not with an awesome game with AU in which I scored a fantastic try.

Nope.

Ended it with a sin bin. A yellow card. Kicked out of the game to spend ten minutes in the try zone while my team played one down.

In my defense, both Lancaster AND Nova (the other team) thought it was a BS call (which was also what we thought about... well, all of the ref's calls). My coach (now ex-coach, I guess?) also thought it was the most hilarious thing she'd heard all day and got really excited to tease me about it (she proposed that they change my nickname to "Sin Bin").

So that was it - a try, a yellow card, tons of bruising (including a few on my neck that look like hickies), a golfball sized lump on my shin, and lots and lots of mud.

And thus ends my AUWRFC career...

Cherry Blossom Tournament 2008

For some odd reason, I'm feeling pretty good about life. That's odd because nothing has been particularly good in the past week or two, but I've just been generally more cheerful.

Maybe it's the spring - things blooming, getting warmer? Maybe it's the planets aligning? Who knows.

One of the effects of this renewed happiness has been me falling back in love with rugby. Now, don't get me wrong, I never really fell out of love... but sometimes, when I'm busy and tired and it's cold/rainy, I get a little cranky that I still need to go to rugby where I will inevitably get hit and be sore and be even MORE tired and I need that time to do work! Not to mention all the business I have to take care of as treasurer.

But over the past week or so, I remembered how much I care. Not for any particular reason, but instead of "oh MAN, something else to do!" I've been working hard in the gym and trying to find time to watch the World Cup games I still have on my DVR and generally having "rugby player" moved up on my list of priorities.


This weekend we went to the Cherry Blossom Tournament, a big annual tournament that used to be on the mall (under the cherry blossoms), but isn't anymore because... well, spring = rain + ruggers = really messy ground = not nice for tourists. So now it's held at a racetrack.

Saturday was supposed to be awful weather, but ended up beautiful - mid-fifties, cloudy but with patches of sun. We started off the day playing West Virginia on a muddy pitch with quite a few lakes and patches of ankle-deep mud. I was flanking strong-side (MY FAVORITE, especially when the opposition's flyhalf is a cute as the WV's was - I do enjoy tackling an attractive rugger girl!). AU played really, really well - especially considering the ref was about as bad as you can get: we scored a try that he wouldn't call because "he couldn't see it".

However, we just went back and scored another try about 30 seconds later. So that worked out okay. I was very proud of us, because usually we get really upset at bad refs (or other teams playing dirty, i.e. the UMD game in the fall) and we get caught up in our heads and don't play as a team, but Saturday we realized that "you can't do anything about the ref" and kicked ass despite having an AWFUL ref. Final score: 12-7, AUWRFC.

In the afternoon, we played Xavier University, which is apparently located in Cincinnati? By then the sun was out and the ground was much dryer (we were on a different pitch, too, which had fewer puddles to start with). This game I locked, and oh man... I have NEVER wanted to be flanking instead so badly! AU had a little more trouble with this game, even though when we'd watched Xavier play WV earlier we'd thought they'd be easy (big girls, but slow, didn't run low, and didn't come up hard). AU was not nearly as aggressive as we needed to be (thus me DYING to be flanking), but we did well enough to keep them back and score one try of our own. FInal score: 5-0, AUWRFC.

This put us in the top bracket for Sunday - which dawned as cold and miserable as Saturday had been supposed to be. We played Army at 9:30 am on a pitch that was part mud, part lake.

It's been a long time since I played a game that messy, but AU played REALLY well. Despite the mess and the cold and the wet and the mud (I probably weighed about ten pounds extra, between the mud and the water soaking me all the way to my underwear), we never stopped and never slowed down and kept coming up hard and aggressive. I was strong-side flanking again, though I ended up eighting for a bit at the end. We lost, not too surprisingly, but we definitely kept them from scoring as much as they could've AND scored a try against them! Final score: something - 5, Army.

I haven't done a lot of game writeups this season, but generally I'm beginning to feel really good about my playing. Between being sick and busy, I'm still not as strong or fast as I'd like to be, but technically I think I've really improved. I've started making different decisions in rucks (like long-body rucking or sealing over my teammates) and reacting to how both AU and the other team are arranged across the field. I've also gotten a lot better at scrumming - I've figured out flanking much better, and over just the past week or so I've really figured out a good locking body position.

I do still need to work on my form in tackles (I am aggressive and effective, but with better form I'd use less energy and hurt myself less), and I'd like to be a bit better at lineouts. Flanking, I'm not always off the scrum fast enough, and overall I do still have some work to do on field awareness and strategy - for example when to use a short vs. long lineouts, etc.

But there will always be room for improvement. Overall, I'm definitely feeling good!

More or less related: on Saturday, I experimented with wearing my new molded cleats (the ones with spike cleats) instead of metal. And, oh man, RIGHT CHOICE. Maybe not if I'd been locking, but my feet felt SO much lighter without those nasty heavy metal spikes weighing me down. If I ever feel the need to get metal again, I've gotta look smaller and lighter, but I think I'm sticking to molded for now.

The photos I promised

Can you tell I'm avoiding doing lots of work?


Facial turf burn on my eye and chin. I was not happy - especially since everyone was telling me I'd gotten a black eye, when CLEARLY it is just turf burn.



Me rinsing dye out of my hair... I mostly include this photo because it's kinda hilarious.



Purple hair! (And Law & Order!)



Me and my two teammates who willingly subjected themselves to my dye escapades.




My knees, aka the reason I will be using an entire tube of neosporin in the next week.

VWIT

I have returned from Charlottesville, where I have been all weekend playing rugby for VWIT (the Virginia Women's Invitational Tournament).

I have returned with the knowledge of how it feels to have the U.S. Military beat up on you for two hours: we were seeded with Women's Army Rugby (WAR) and Women's Navy Rugby (WNR). We played two thirty-minute halves against each, and lost by... considerable amounts.

I have returned without skin on my knees and portions of my face: we played on not particularly kind turf, and the turf burn was horrendous. I also am very stiff and sore and will probably have trouble walking for the next few days.

I have returned with purple hair.

But I have also returned... with VICTORY.

Our consolation match was on Sunday, with the University of Maryland (UMD). AU and UMD have some beef - they recently moved up to D1, and beat us in the fall (in a game that no one at AU wants to talk about or generally remember), so they are going to playoffs and we are not.

But today, we played them for two thirty-minute halves and ten minutes of overtime. No tries scored in the first half. We then scored our first try fairly early on the in the second; later, they caught up with us by scoring their first try [illegally, but let's not dwell on that]. Then in overtime, we put our try in and held them far away from our try zone the whole time.

It felt AMAZING - not just winning, not just being matched up against a team that we could REALLY compete with, but playing such a good, tight game. UMD made some mistakes, definitely, but they played really well; we just played better.

We played really and truly fifteen-as-one, everyone on the field paying attention to where their teammates were and where the other team was. We supported each other, reset fast and came up aggressively on defense, made smart decisions on offense, and (a big deal for my team, which usually loses their heads in these circumstances) kept out of our heads and on the pitch in the face of some questionable tactics used by the other team and some interesting calls by the ref.

It was what we'd been working for all weekend - we'd started off slow in the first half with Army, but picked it up, and played pretty decently against Navy, but we still weren't at our best; it's hard to keep your head and your aggression up when the other team is running tries into the tryzone every few minutes. But today, it just all came together and looked beautiful.

As for me personally, I had a pretty fantastic weekend (as a first, I played the same position all weekend: strong-side flanker). I didn't do as well as I could've in the first half against Army, but after the game was over, Deanna came up to me with a very serious expression on her face and said, "Pink. Do you know what you did? Pink," and just as I was getting worried that I'd done something very wrong, she finishes with, "You did exactly what a strong-side flanker is supposed to do. You made their flyhalf look for you every play because she was so nervous you'd hit her! You came up hard and aggressive on defense and wanted the ball every time."

And I don't think I've gotten a better compliment in my life.

And that's how I played all weekend.

And it was SO GOOD.

[PS - photos of the hair and the facial turf burn and the skinless knees whenever I get off my ass and upload them!]

I get a little excited by rugby, okay?

OH MAN RUGBY IS MY FAVORITE THING EVER EVER EVER IN LIFE.

First game(s) today. We played Georgetown and Catholic on the most ghetto-ass pitch ever - that is, it was to one side of a REAL pitch (because that wasn't open until NEXT weekend), and instead of like, touch lines and all that OFFICIAL stuff we had... cones. And flags.

And okay, so both the team and I did decently but need to work on continuity - Georgetown (which is D2 to our D1) beat us in the 3x20minutes we played, but we beat Catholic HARDXCORE in the 3x20 minutes WE played.

BUT OF COURSE - the most awesome part was fo' sho the social. Since we played Georgetown first, they left, but we did social with Catholic, which is absolutely my most favorite thing in my life. It was everything a social should be.

And, of course, I reconnected with the 5 or 6 Catholic girls I already know (from PRUs or from the last time I socialed with them) and they were all "YES! AU and Catholic should see each other more often! Catholic should see YOU more often what is your phone number." I mean, basically I adore these girls and would most definitely hang with them again HURRAH.

And SERIOUSLY - does life get any better than this? Does it?!

NO. No way :D

Quotes from a snow practice

"You know, I really wish we had some good grass."

To a toddler:
"Aw, are you a hooker? Yes you are!"

"No, I'm not sure if it's okay or not... I'll let you know when I can feel it."

And life is good

Today, I had one of those days where, after leaving the house, I had literally 30 minutes to myself - 10 minutes for "lunch" (a quesadilla and a green tea protein shake - tasty, but slightly odd) and 20 minutes for dinner.

One of those days where, though nothing actually bad happened, you just get frustrated and feel this need to HIT something.

Well... lucky for me I'm a rugger!

Second real practice of the season; my first full practice (had to leave early for class on Thursday).

Oh man oh man oh man. Did it feel good.

Never mind the cold, the fact that I couldn't feel my hands or that I was shivering in underarmour and a nice thick jersey. Never mind the wind that made it hard to throw a ball or hear the coach.

It was RUGBY.

We ended practice with Real Rugby (a little scrimmage), and wow, it felt so good. Rucking and passing and even a little scrumming (I got to hook a little, and you know how I feel about being a hooker - whee!). Honestly, I feel so good about our team - even at the second practice of the season, we're looking good. Yes, our defensive line looks a little straggly; yes, there were a LOT of missed tackles; but we had a lot of good continuity, communication, support, etc. Definitely a good base to work off of.

And we'll get a good glimpse of HOW good a base this weekend - round robin with Catholic, Georgetown, and VCU (I don't think we're all playing everyone, but I'm not 100% sure on all the details).

Three tournaments to go for trophies in... this could be a VERY good season for my last one with the AUWRFC :D

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today was definitely one of the best Valentine's Days so far.

First off, I actually Had A Valentine. As in, I asked her with a home-made red-and-white paper card covered in glitter, and she said she'd be my Valentine. Yayyyyy :D

But second, I had my first real date with the real love of my life, the abusive lover that I've been in an emotionally and physically intense relationship for going on three years now.

That's right - RUGBY PRACTICE.

Practice was moved inside/made into a chalk talk Tuesday and Wednesday because of the weather, but today it was FINALLY nice enough to have it outside.

And it was SO FANTASTIC. It wasn't that cold, and the ground was nice and soft and muddy thanks to the rain, and I got to HIT PEOPLE OMG. Seriously, tackle grids feel soooo good.

Plus, to warm up for tackling we did this picking-people-up drill where you run at people as if you are going to tackle them, with good tackling form, but instead of tackling them you pick them up. And I'm usually not very good at the "picking people up" thing, but I got Adi off the ground EVERY TIME. Guess all those squats are paying off!