This morning I woke up for it thinking that this could be one of the first years that I actually focus more on rugby and not on being a running frozen icicle....but then I looked out the window, saw snow, and yelled "DAMMIT BUFFALO!!!!" Luckily it was only a thin layer, and what we were saying later in the day is that it seriously must have snowed only for Winterfest, because as the day went on the snow completely melted away.
I was really upset this morning when we almost didn't have enough players to play in a friggin' SEVENS tournament. SEVEN-RUGBY-PLAYERS, that's all we needed and we couldn't even get that! That's so disappointing!!! I just wish that people were more excited to play rugby and took it more seriously, becaues it makes the game so much more fun and enjoyable that way. I'm just disappointed that so many of our players who could've made the tournament missed out on some AWESOME rugby and almost screwed their teammates over.
Luckily, we went to the field with 6 players anyway even though that's not even enough for a starting line up. I would have played a man down anyway because I don't care one way or another, but we were really lucky to find a girl from another team who volunteered to play with us! Her name was Wheels, and we found out QUICKLY (pun intended) where she got her nickname from. She was super fast, and I was really grateful to have a player that was so into the game and dedicated play with us! We tied our first game, which really was an awesome feat especially because the majority of the girls on our team have never played in a 7's tournament before.
The weather throughout the day was so weird, which made playing even tougher: at first there was snow, but then it rapidly started to melt, which left a thawed and frozen ground that was completely SOLID. It was practically like hitting concrete in our first game, and one of the girls on our team really hit her head hard that was a double whammy since she went down hard and went down on a hard surface. BUT, luckily as the day went on and the same fields were being constantly played on, the ground started to get torn up and became wet and muddy. So it became slippery in a different way: before it was icy and hard like a skating rink, then it was sloppy and wet like a mud pit. But in both instances it was AWESOME.
I am just living in bliss and bruises right now. I missed these aches. I missed this tiredness all over my body, like I just pulled a tractor with my bare hands across the United States. I missed that incredible adrenaline rush of hitting someone, getting back up, looking left and right, assessing what the hell is going on in the blink of an eye, hitting someone else, and doing it all over again. I missed getting the ball and making myself feel like the hulk, and not letting ANYONE take me down without a fight. I missed having awesome teammates to support me when I'm about to go down and carry the play on, and I missed being there for someone else to help them out and not let their hard work go to waste. I missed being absolutely and completely DIRTY, SWEATY, AND DISGUSTING - covered in everything and anything and NOT EVEN NOTICING. I missed getting the shit beaten out of me and only asking for more :)
My coach told me today that he jokingly thought of me as a "female daredevil: someone who plays without any resistance to pain or any restriction" which I totally took as a wonderful compliment! I sure as hell try to play that way: with no regrets and nothing making me back down. I hope I can continue to build on that.
Everyone was talking about how we have a tournament "right around the corner...on March 31st" but THAT'S TOO FAR AWAY FOR ME. I'M GONNA GO CRAZY! I'VE ALREADY BEEN EXPOSED TO RUGBY THIS SEASON AND I'M HUNGRY FOR MORE!! I'm gonna push people to get in some scrimmages or something before then, because I just can't wait that long!
Thanks so much everyone on the team that came to the tournament today. I would have been so heartbroken if we didn't get to play, and I cannot even begin to express how proud I was of the team. Winterfest is friggin' HARD, probably one of THE hardest tournaments we do every year and it's quite a feat to even make it there. But not only did we still go with not enough players, but we played our hearts out and we played GOOD. We were there for each other and we had some amazing team work, even when playing with people we had never played with before. I'm also SO incredibly fortunate for our alumni; without them we wouldn't have played in Winterfest either. They definitely showed through for us, and they were such amazing leaders as always. I hope that the other girls on the team can be exposed to them more and find inspiration through their hard work, if they're not going to appreciate mine. I've done my best to lead by example, but it's just not enough. I'm happy that at least someone can give off a positive influence. The alumni will never cease to amaze me and inspire me; I'm so lucky to have started off my rugby career with such dedicated players!
Love you all. Love you so much rugby. Holy shit I'm never going to stop playing.
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