2008 Woodie Awards
Saturday will always be a rugby day.
Amber "Slam" Vaillancourt, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 5/13/08 Section: Senior Columns
At the end of my sophomore year, I'm pretty sure my friends didn't get it. "I can't go out, I have a rugby game," I would say every Friday night to quell their pleading questions as to why I wasn't out, dressed and ready to party.
I said this just about every Friday night for the next two and a half years, through groans and moans, "I can't go out, I have a rugby game." Sure it was tough watching the mobs of stumbling co-eds hike to their next party or bar, but Saturday was not that far away.
Being on the rugby team here has taught me a great many things; positive body image and self-confidence, how to ruck, scrum and maul, team and leadership skills, as well as how to drink from a dirty boot. I'm not the only one who has learned, I have had the pleasure of watching my rookie class learn the same lessons as I did, and together we watched rookies after us learn the same things. Through the good, the bad and the ugly, we have survived everything imaginable and we survived it all together.
Rugby didn't make up my entire college career. I am a Southwest-South girl at heart and my friends from Poli-Sci TAP and Sweet 16/third floor of John Adams Tower deserve a hearty shout-out. But in the end, there are just some things that only my rugby girls can understand.
Together, we invaded Cocoa Beach with our bikinis, board shorts and sports bras pretending to cover our massive black-and-blues. Where ever we went, it looked either like the battered women's shelter or a female detention center on a field trip because between the bruises and our rough-housing, it was often hard to tell.
We learned how to win and lose together. I never in my life thought that I would spend more time crying about a lost game or a missed try instead of a torn ACL - but I did. We were all like that and still enjoy the same "rugger" mentality. I have seen people play with broken bones just because our coach, Frank, asked them for a second half, Most of the time, Frank wouldn't even need to ask because we wanted to play.
I said this just about every Friday night for the next two and a half years, through groans and moans, "I can't go out, I have a rugby game." Sure it was tough watching the mobs of stumbling co-eds hike to their next party or bar, but Saturday was not that far away.
Being on the rugby team here has taught me a great many things; positive body image and self-confidence, how to ruck, scrum and maul, team and leadership skills, as well as how to drink from a dirty boot. I'm not the only one who has learned, I have had the pleasure of watching my rookie class learn the same lessons as I did, and together we watched rookies after us learn the same things. Through the good, the bad and the ugly, we have survived everything imaginable and we survived it all together.
Rugby didn't make up my entire college career. I am a Southwest-South girl at heart and my friends from Poli-Sci TAP and Sweet 16/third floor of John Adams Tower deserve a hearty shout-out. But in the end, there are just some things that only my rugby girls can understand.
Together, we invaded Cocoa Beach with our bikinis, board shorts and sports bras pretending to cover our massive black-and-blues. Where ever we went, it looked either like the battered women's shelter or a female detention center on a field trip because between the bruises and our rough-housing, it was often hard to tell.
We learned how to win and lose together. I never in my life thought that I would spend more time crying about a lost game or a missed try instead of a torn ACL - but I did. We were all like that and still enjoy the same "rugger" mentality. I have seen people play with broken bones just because our coach, Frank, asked them for a second half, Most of the time, Frank wouldn't even need to ask because we wanted to play.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 3
Maria
posted 5/19/08 @ 7:48 PM EST
"Where ever we went, it looked either like the battered women's shelter or a female detention center on a field trip."
Really?
You actually think it's appropriate to parallel your experience as a rugby player by choice to these two things?
Good work "Southwest-South girl". (Continued…)
Bob McGovern
posted 5/23/08 @ 7:51 PM EST
The thing you learn about yourself as a journalist/rugby player is that you have the freedom to express yourself - even when it might not be deemed appropriate by other people. (Continued…)
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