My, but this blog has been getting a bit dusty around the corners, hasn’t it? But that’s off-season for ya – kit bag kicked under the bed, boots shoved in some corner where hopefully the smell won’t bother anyone, and rugby pushed, if not to the back of my mind, then at least less constantly at the front of my thoughts.
Instead, like any dutiful rugger, the off-season brings for me a new obsession: fitness. Lifting, core workouts, sprinting, nutrition, when can I get to the gym?
After all, this is my first off-season as an Official Adult, without finals or new classes or shuttling back and forth between home and campus. No traveling to foreign countries and (knock on wood) no long, drawn-out illnesses to keep me from finally focusing all my energy on Being the Fittest Rugby Player I Can Be. For the first time, I should really be able to set some serious goals and meet them… right?
But it’s been harder than I thought. There are the usual distractions – after all, now I’m earning a paycheck which can be spent on Happy Hours and new books and Netflix – but that’s not it. I also can’t blame the cold weather or my new neighborhood not being safe to run in at night or my mysterious shoulder injury for making me skip workouts or shave the end off of my sprints or occasionally eat a bag of popcorn for dinner instead of a well-balanced meal.
It’s a lack of accountability.
See, back when I played for American, we spent the off-season playing The Fitness Game. Workouts had a point value, and at the end of every week you’d add up your points and send them to a team leader to be totaled and reported in a summary to the rest of the team. I’m sure that some people cheated, gave themselves points for workouts they didn’t do, or “forgot” to report their negative points (incidentally, a three-drink minimum doesn’t result in less drinking, merely VERY strong drinks) – but the cheating didn’t make a difference. The thing is, everyone knew – we were all in the game together. We badgered each other to go to the gym or to go running between classes, we noticed who was getting the highest point totals and talked about who was slacking, we could tell during that first week of practice who had been keeping up their fitness in the cold or the heat. Even after I graduated, I spent the summer in a house of ruggers and we dragged each other to the gym and sprint workouts before sevens practices.
Now instead of heading to the university gym, I come home and lift in my laundry room. Instead of sprint sessions on the track, I try to find a well-lit park somewhere in the neighborhood. Instead of tallying my points once a week and having to admit to someone when I’ve slacked off – well, no one knows the difference if I go home and watch TV on my couch instead of going into my freezing cold laundry gym. And without that accountability, it can be awfully hard to give into temptation.
So what’s a rugger to do?
At first, I just got frustrated and criticized myself for not doing better. Don’t I have more willpower than that? Aren’t I committed to being a better rugby player?? Skipping workouts makes me a TERRIBLE PERSON and I should be ASAHMED OF MYSELF for being such a PITIFUL EXCUSE FOR A RUGBY PLAYER.
But yeah, that didn’t work. Turns out I’m not a great self-motivator.
So now I’m trying something new. After all, there’s still plenty of ruggers in my life, and we’re all on Gchat all the time anyways. If every morning, Caboose and I agree to talk about our workout plans for the evening and whether we did what we’d meant to the night before – then she’ll know if I slack off. If I make gym and sprint dates with my teammates and the DCers I know from the U23 team instead of going out for a drink – well, there’s temptation gone and it’s not like I’ll stand anyone up for a gym date.
It’s a new fitness game. It’s sort of like being a responsible adult. And so far, it’s working. Which is good for me, because after all – there’s that first spring practice coming up. And no matter what happens in the off-season, there’s still those fourteen other players on the pitch that I’m accountable to as soon as the season starts.
Showing posts with label thinking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thinking. Show all posts
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Monday, September 22, 2008
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.
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.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, April 7, 2008
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.
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.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Feeling good
So life is pretty damn good right now. So what if I didn't get any of the work done today that I planned on; it was just working ahead anyways. So what if I was working ahead because I have a rugby game (OUR LAST GAME AND ONLY HOME GAME!!!!!) and PRU tryouts this weekend, and a 10-page paper due Monday. So what if I have another 10-page paper due the Monday after that, the Monday after I may be in Virginia all weekend playing rugby if I make the U23 team. So what if this is the fifth sentence in a row I began with "so".
I'm feeling good.
I'm feeling good about rugby. We had fitness testing Tuesday, and even though I'm only average on most of it (sit-ups, push-ups, other tests that Deanna pulls from lord knows where), I beat everyone in the beep test. Didn't do as well as when I took it this time last year, but that could be a number of things (it was fucking cold, it's a little awkward to keep running with the whole team watching you and no one to run against). I realized a few weeks ago that I was kind of mentally standing on my heels and not putting as much into my playing as I could be, so I stepped it up, and I think that showed at Navy on Sunday.
And I'm feeling good about Navy. We lost 0-75 but you would not have known it. We played hard and well. We came up hard on defense and it showed in the number of scrums we got for Navy knocking on the ball. We dominated in the scrum - which showed in two brilliant 5m scrums that we pushed into the try zone (no try off of it, but Coach Amy called it "the best tactical rugby I've ever seen this team play", and man was it beautiful to see those tough Navy girls bent up double and helpless as we pushed them back). And we hit hard enough that Navy got whiny and slow in the end of the second half, calling for minutes and switching players in and out. Total catharsis for last year's mess.
I'm feeling good.
I'm feeling good about rugby. We had fitness testing Tuesday, and even though I'm only average on most of it (sit-ups, push-ups, other tests that Deanna pulls from lord knows where), I beat everyone in the beep test. Didn't do as well as when I took it this time last year, but that could be a number of things (it was fucking cold, it's a little awkward to keep running with the whole team watching you and no one to run against). I realized a few weeks ago that I was kind of mentally standing on my heels and not putting as much into my playing as I could be, so I stepped it up, and I think that showed at Navy on Sunday.
And I'm feeling good about Navy. We lost 0-75 but you would not have known it. We played hard and well. We came up hard on defense and it showed in the number of scrums we got for Navy knocking on the ball. We dominated in the scrum - which showed in two brilliant 5m scrums that we pushed into the try zone (no try off of it, but Coach Amy called it "the best tactical rugby I've ever seen this team play", and man was it beautiful to see those tough Navy girls bent up double and helpless as we pushed them back). And we hit hard enough that Navy got whiny and slow in the end of the second half, calling for minutes and switching players in and out. Total catharsis for last year's mess.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Varsity rugby
Saturday's A Rugby Day* made a post about women's rugby getting NCAA varsity status, which got me thinking about the nature of AU's team and ended up in this long comment, that I figured I might as well repost here.
American's team's been around for about 11 years, and right now we're one of the top club programs at AU. We've got great ambitions for the growth of our team - our board has been working with the club sports office for increased field access and equipment storage, and I'd like to think that the visibility and success of our program has been a factor in the university's recent decision to increase the office's total budget.
On the one hand, field access, equipment storage, and money would be easier or maybe unnecessary to fight for if we had varsity status. Not to mention that holy grail of getting access to a trainer.
But on the other hand, very few if any of us want the constraints that come with being a varsity team. As a club side, we can choose whether our focus will be on increasing our competitiveness or just having fun playing an amazing game, and individual members can join with the knowledge that rugby's a flexible commitment. Many of our best (and most dedicated) players participate in multiple activities or work jobs or just plain don't want the 24/7 commitment that comes with playing for a varsity team.
For the AUWRFC, moving to varsity status would effectively change the character of the team. Perhaps this wouldn't objectively be a bad thing, but I would personally be disappointed if the club attitude of self-determination and free-will participation were lost to that varsity designation.
American's team's been around for about 11 years, and right now we're one of the top club programs at AU. We've got great ambitions for the growth of our team - our board has been working with the club sports office for increased field access and equipment storage, and I'd like to think that the visibility and success of our program has been a factor in the university's recent decision to increase the office's total budget.
On the one hand, field access, equipment storage, and money would be easier or maybe unnecessary to fight for if we had varsity status. Not to mention that holy grail of getting access to a trainer.
But on the other hand, very few if any of us want the constraints that come with being a varsity team. As a club side, we can choose whether our focus will be on increasing our competitiveness or just having fun playing an amazing game, and individual members can join with the knowledge that rugby's a flexible commitment. Many of our best (and most dedicated) players participate in multiple activities or work jobs or just plain don't want the 24/7 commitment that comes with playing for a varsity team.
For the AUWRFC, moving to varsity status would effectively change the character of the team. Perhaps this wouldn't objectively be a bad thing, but I would personally be disappointed if the club attitude of self-determination and free-will participation were lost to that varsity designation.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
On Captaincy
I'm filling out the medical form for PRUs, and there's a few differences from the average health form. For example, after the typical "Are you currently taking any Prescriptions or Non-Prescription Medications?" questions, there's spaces specifically for anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxants, and pain medicaiton.
Rugby people are SO good to their bodies....
On a somewhat related note, I'm SO excited for this weekend. Playing rugby! In Baltimore! With a whole bunch of other ruggers, most of whom I haven't met before! What could be better?
I'm probably going to be 8ing, considering that's what I did during our scrimmage practice on Sunday (our cold, wet, muddy, miserable practice, which I wore shorts and socks to, which prompted my parents - who drove me from the Bungalow to campus - to rush-order me a pair of underarmour spandex pants. Go Mom and Dad!)
Considering Gabe had me captain my team both at the practice and the last tryouts, the other thing I might be doing next weekend is act as the on-pitch captain. I don't know why he had me captain - my personal guess is that with my hair, I'm easy to recognize and remember, which is an advantage in a select side team whose players don't know each other well - but it means that people tend to look to me to figure out what's going on.
Knowing what's going on is not my forte. To put it mildly.
I'm just to the point where I can kinda sort figure out where it's strategically best to go up in a line-out, and whether it's better to pass the ball off the top of the lineout or bring it down for a maul. But I have no idea which person should be jumping when (the PRU team runs line-outs where the jumper runs to the place they'll jump from). I'm a good jumper, but I don't know whether I'm better or worse than the other two jumpers, and when one of us should jump as opposed to the other.
Similiarly, the PRU team calls plays off of scrums (8man or scrumhalf pick). Which means I - even if I'm just an 8man, and not a captain - should probably be calling stuff. At some point. When, I'm not sure.
The thing is, even when I've had to call or do these things before, I've depended largely on Krysi or Sheri or whoever to tell me what I'm supposed to call, and relied on people knowing that I don't really know what's going on. The PRU girls don't really know me, and mostly likely assume that if I'm captain I'll know what to do.
I feel kind of silly worrying about this, also. Like it's egotistical to complain about being a captain, or even to assume I will be a captain. Or like it's in bad taste to even talk about Things I Am Good At. Except - seriously, you have to believe me - I have had a rock-solid self-image of me being Bad At Sports for many years now. I am slowly chipping away at that self-image, but I'm barely to "Okay, so I guess I'm not too bad at rugby, I mean, I'll admit I'm one of the top 15 on a team of 40 or so, but I'm still a total klutz and I don't know what's going on and that amazing 8man pick on Saturday that led to Sheri scoring a try was really Sheri's doing, I mean she told me to pick and I did, it's not like I can really play that well or anything." Believing that I'm one of the top 2 out of 44 select-side ruggers? HA.
Hence my theory that Gabe picked me as captain because my hair is pink.
Rugby people are SO good to their bodies....
On a somewhat related note, I'm SO excited for this weekend. Playing rugby! In Baltimore! With a whole bunch of other ruggers, most of whom I haven't met before! What could be better?
I'm probably going to be 8ing, considering that's what I did during our scrimmage practice on Sunday (our cold, wet, muddy, miserable practice, which I wore shorts and socks to, which prompted my parents - who drove me from the Bungalow to campus - to rush-order me a pair of underarmour spandex pants. Go Mom and Dad!)
Considering Gabe had me captain my team both at the practice and the last tryouts, the other thing I might be doing next weekend is act as the on-pitch captain. I don't know why he had me captain - my personal guess is that with my hair, I'm easy to recognize and remember, which is an advantage in a select side team whose players don't know each other well - but it means that people tend to look to me to figure out what's going on.
Knowing what's going on is not my forte. To put it mildly.
I'm just to the point where I can kinda sort figure out where it's strategically best to go up in a line-out, and whether it's better to pass the ball off the top of the lineout or bring it down for a maul. But I have no idea which person should be jumping when (the PRU team runs line-outs where the jumper runs to the place they'll jump from). I'm a good jumper, but I don't know whether I'm better or worse than the other two jumpers, and when one of us should jump as opposed to the other.
Similiarly, the PRU team calls plays off of scrums (8man or scrumhalf pick). Which means I - even if I'm just an 8man, and not a captain - should probably be calling stuff. At some point. When, I'm not sure.
The thing is, even when I've had to call or do these things before, I've depended largely on Krysi or Sheri or whoever to tell me what I'm supposed to call, and relied on people knowing that I don't really know what's going on. The PRU girls don't really know me, and mostly likely assume that if I'm captain I'll know what to do.
I feel kind of silly worrying about this, also. Like it's egotistical to complain about being a captain, or even to assume I will be a captain. Or like it's in bad taste to even talk about Things I Am Good At. Except - seriously, you have to believe me - I have had a rock-solid self-image of me being Bad At Sports for many years now. I am slowly chipping away at that self-image, but I'm barely to "Okay, so I guess I'm not too bad at rugby, I mean, I'll admit I'm one of the top 15 on a team of 40 or so, but I'm still a total klutz and I don't know what's going on and that amazing 8man pick on Saturday that led to Sheri scoring a try was really Sheri's doing, I mean she told me to pick and I did, it's not like I can really play that well or anything." Believing that I'm one of the top 2 out of 44 select-side ruggers? HA.
Hence my theory that Gabe picked me as captain because my hair is pink.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)