The Morning After

BLAAAAAAH I CAN'T MOVE, AND IT'S AWESOME!! Oh.my.goodness...I haven't experienced this soreness and pain in so long!! Jeez, I've been through all this and felt this so many times, yet every time I never cease to be so incredibly happy by it. It's strange to say that I'm overjoyed to be screaming in pain and a 21 year old living in a 91 year old's body, but it's true! The connotations that I associate with being sore and in pain are important. A friend on the men's rugby team said to me today that their coach always says to them, "If you're not sore after a game, then you didn't work hard enough," and I couldn't agree more! I think that the magnitude of the pain I feel in the morning is equivalent to the amount of effort and hard work I put into yesterday's rugby. So if I am dying right now, then I WORKED MY BUTT OFF! That's all you can really ask for at the end of the day: not if you scored a hundred tries or if you made a hundred tackles, but if you truely tried your best. This all just adds to my desire to play rugby forever.

I've had so many scary and unnerving thoughts about life after college, and not being able to play rugby. But I'm going to do my very best to ensure that this doesn't happen. Even if there's a significant time period in my life where it really is impossible for me to play rugby, I hope that I eventually come back to it. I just don't want to leave it in the dust after college. Man, I would love to have this as a career. Working out all the time with the goal in the back of your mind of being a strong and supportive teammate, growing closer and closer every day with the people you work with who are just as motivated as you are, playing rugby games and running rugby practices your whole life, and always being sore and improving and improving and improving some more on your game. Ugh, sounds like a dream come true.

TRUE STORY!

HAHAHAHAHA one of my teammates just posted this on Facebook and I thought it was hysterical. Since it's hilarious and rugby related, figured I had to put it on here.

WINTERFEST!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH TODAY WAS FINALLY WINTERFEST!!!! I have been running like a mad man on the treadmill and even slowly but surely working on lifting weights (haven't been able to for a WHILE because of the broken collarbone) to prepare for it even though it's a purely fun tournament that people don't exactly take seriously. BUT, rugby is rugby to me, and whatever rugby I play I want to do my best at!

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.

Mehhh just randomly made this while procrastinating homework because I miss rugby :(

I should be grateful that we have a tournament next weekend, even if it's just a fun tournament in the snow that no one really plays competitively in...but I just miss the blood, sweat, and tears in our hardcore rugby games. I NEED TO PLAY AFTER I GRADUATE COLLEGE. I just can't imagine my life without it.

Spreading the love.

I got published in my town's local newspaper for rugby!!! At first I was a little embarrassed, because it was weird having an article about myself in the paper and have everyone see it...and my grandpa couldn't stop raving about it and showing the guys he does crossword puzzles with haha. But one of my friends from high school that plays rugby for another school (we're the only 2 lol) heard from her aunt that works at our old high school that now everyone thinks I'm gonna bring rugby to m high school.....which is SUCH AN AWESOME RUMOR HAHAHA. I mean, if I could I would in a heartbeat, but absolutely nothing is guaranteed ha ha.

Here's the link to the article:

http://www.wickedlocal.com/swampscott/news/x1157707391/Swampscott-Powderpuff-alumni-takes-the-next-step-playing-rugby#axzz1lpnBSZgZ

Gotta tournament coming up in a few weeks too...PUMPED. Been running like a maniac for it.

2011 Rugby World Cup

What-a-GAME!!!! I am SO happy that I got the chance to catch the end of the rugby world cup, but I wish I had the chance to see more of it from the beginning stages. I'm really amazed with the amount of picks and gos both teams use consecutively throughout play, and the way that New Zealand won was truly inspirational. Not only did a 30 year old prop score their only try, but a substitute player who had NEVER PLAYED IN THE WORLD CUP BEFORE THAT MOMENT made the kick by a sliver to give them the win by a point. And I have never in all the time that I have witnessed and played rugby ever seen a try scored off of a line out by a prop: they threw a line out to the back pod, which off loaded it out to a prop that was running full speed through the two pods and basically ran the ball like a banger into the try zone! Genius! That seriously just goes to show how amazing of a team New Zealand truly is: not only were they able to utilize their oldest player and one that doesn't normally get opportunities to score a try, but someone fresh off the bench was able to pull through in the clutch moment of that kick. They must have immense depth on their team and appreciate every single person that is on it, no matter how much playing time they get.
But France also put up a fierce opposition at the same time; I was looking back at all the scores throughout the world cup and it is amazing that they only lost to New Zealand by one point! The last time France played New Zealand they lost 37-17, so losing 8-7 is a tremendous improvement to say the least. Not only did they lose by fewer points, but in general they made New Zealand score fewer points which is another accomplishment in itself. The try they did score was well earned and late in the game, so they never stopped putting up a fight. Also, their defense was phenomenal, which is shown in the low scoring game.

I'm so happy that the world cup final was just as amazing and phenomenal as it should have been! I'm sad that I have to wait until 2015 for the next one, but I'm sure I'll be looking back on this game over and over for inspiration and learning purposes. Anyone who didn't see it should make an effort to watch the whole thing, because it was so exciting from beginning to end. And they have some sweet videos of the top 5 hits and the top 5 trys, both of which the United States made it into!

Strength and honor.

I've been so enthralled with rugby season that I didn't even get a chance to write about it at all. I better go into detail, since this was my last fall college rugby season...which I can barely even type out without feeling a deep pang in my heart.

So the rookies on the team surpassed all of my wildest expectations; I think that throwing them into responsibilities and pressures of starting and playing A-side forced them to grow as players quicker. Every single one of the them improved tenfold by the end of the season.

As a team, we bonded so quickly and wonderfully that we learned how to play around each other more and more as the season progressed. In our second game, we actually started off winning and putting up such an incredible battle. We stopped them at their tri zone a dozen times, and I literally held up two of their tries. But then by the time the second half rolled around, we started to die off. We had some serious injuries on some major starters, and it made an impact on the field. Personally, about three quarters into the game, I blatantly heard my collarbone crack when I tackled a girl at least twice my size and my mind flashed back to last fall when I broke it. My left arm was completely immobilized, and not only was I throwing passes and bangers with one arm but I was also TACKLING with one arm (which actually worked, surprisingly).

After that scare, I put my good ol' figure eight brace back on and slept with it on. But when I took it off, my left shoulder BLEW UP LIKE A BLIMP. It was HUGE, and apparently it was because I took the brace off (similar to why I guess you don't take someone's shoe off when they sprain or break their ankle). So I continued with the ice and put the brace back on, not telling anyone about what was happening. Luckily the swelling went down, I overdosed on ibuprofen a bajillion times, and I didn't miss a single practice or game throughout the whole process. But, I'm not gonna lie.....I was spooked. I started suffering from a little hesitation in my tackling.

Then our homecoming game came, and my mother and sister actually got to see me play!!! I got my collarbone taped, which still drew my shoulders back like a marionette puppet and stifled some of my mobility. It was a lot tougher to run/breathe and move my arms, so I kind of had to work around a little of a handicap. But, I'd rather play rugby with a handicap than not play at all! I was so grateful that I got to play for my mom and sister because I was nervous for a little while that I wasn't going to be able to. We lost once again, but apparently this was the first place team that absolutely crushed every team they played while they only beat us by 17 points. Our rookies continued to dominate on the field, and even my mom said she "enjoyed watching me play rugby more than she thought she would" and liked seeing me direct the team. That was better than any sort of win for me.

Next was our second to last game that showed even more improvement. To be honest, we really could have won that game if we had a better referee; he took away two tries that I scored from crappy calls and that would have made us win. But I don't like blaming losses on things like that. It was a fun game to play because it was so close, and what I was proud of the most was how the team worked so incredibly well together. My tackling was getting less and less hesitant, and I'll never forget how nervous I was to approach a one on one situation against one of the absolute biggest girls I've ever seen in my life and still take her down.

Finally....in my last game to ever be played for my college team in a fall season.....we WON. We ACTUALLY WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was the best feeling ever; everyone on the team earned the win together and I couldn't have asked for anything more for the perfect ending to my fall college rugby career. Our improvement was tremendous, and I honestly think we won that game because of how much love we all have for each other on this team and how incredibly connected we are. I don't think there's been another time where I've kept an incessantly huge grin on my face for that long, and I'm a person that smiles at least 90% of every day so that says a lot.

I'm still in denial about it all being over, so I'm working on getting a few scrimmages for the team to play before everything turns into an icicle. Still running, still pushing, and still believing that I'm gonna play rugby until.....hell freezes over. And even then, I'll still play Winterfest - HA!





I don't know if I could do rugby justice right now and give it the thank you it deserves, but thank you rugby on so many different levels:
Thank you rugby for giving me a voice I never even knew I had. Thank you for giving me a bulletproof reason to smile in the morning and think "It's a good day because I get to play rugby today." Thank you for the array of gorgeous bruises you have given me, and for actually forcing me to sit back and smell the roses because I literally can't move from incredibly sore muscles. Thank you for letting me get to know some of the most amazing people I have ever encountered, and for making my family grow at least four times in size. Thank you for making me realize my own inner physical and mental strength, when all I've ever been able to call myself is a kiss ass. Thank you for the wonderful sense of power and confidence I feel every time I have the privilege of tackling someone to the ground or breaking away from someone else's tackle. Thank you for teaching me to never give up, and to always get back up and sprint full speed ahead without looking back when I fall. Thank you for giving me the wonderful rugby filled life I have now.






So much love in my heart.