RUGBY

Ok. Bear with me. I have a TON to say about rugby. And I think the best way to start is by starting with where rugby and I crossed paths.
Rewind, freshman year of college at Lee University Fall 2006. I had just wrapped up 7 years of softball and was starting at a school that I didn't even really choose to go to so I wasn't the most motivated girl. Happy, but not excited. Long story short, I had been commited to another school back home and when visiting my Nannie over the summer was persuaded to go to Lee because my cousin had attended. So back to the story, I had just wrapped up 7 years of softball which had consumed my years, Fall Ball, winter conditioning, spring school ball and summer recreational ball. I loved every second of it even though maybe I wasn't always happy with our overall success betweeen the teams I played with. When I graduated high school I commited to ECU, a big school in NC. I didn't try and play ball anywhere mostly because my peers were going to huge schools and if they were playing a sport it was at a huge school. So, being dumb and naive, I didn't think it was really an option, when looking back, I probably could have played at a smaller school.

I came to Lee and immediately jumped into intramural sports. EVERY intramural sport. Softball, flag football, volleyball, basketball, indoor and outdoor soccer. And honestly, none were very much fun. The rosters were always changing and we never had that "team" aspect of it quite like I was used to. Softball, though, evolved into an elite team from a scrappy dorm team, we all had talent and continuously played together. So in the spring of 2007 I decided that I wanted to play for Lee University, softball.

The tryouts came and went and I was invited to practice with them. I went to one practice and the coach said, "hustle up!" and the girls kind of picked up their walk to a speedy trot. Now, I know this sounds crazy but when the coach said that one thing and the girls just blew it off, it said so much to me. This isn't what I wanted to be a part of, I wanted a team with heart, no matter how talented or awful they were. So I kindly refused the coach's offer to travel with them occasionally playing. After that, I was thouroughly frustrated. I had really prayed and asked for God's direction in this matter and I didn't like the "no" I was getting from him. So I just questioned where I needed to invest my time and energy other than school.
In Fall 2007 one of the girls that coached our softball team,Amber Ferguson, BEGGED me to come to the rugby meeting with her as well as several other of the softball girls I played with. Reluctantly, I went and when we went around the room and mentioned practices and other things when the coach asked if I was willing to make that commitment I said, "Softball comes first. No matter what". He replied, "Well, that may mean you lose your starting position, IF you earn one". I agreed and that was that. And, it felt like a challenge. It was the infamous Chad Richmond who spoke those words to me.

Practiced started, it was fun, having a commited team, but I hated the sport. I didn't understand the game, I hated that I couldn't just pick up and play, I didn't want to tackle, it was AWFUL. So everyday I considered quiting and my great friend Kimberly Smith encouraged me to stick with her and stick with it. One day at practice we were playing touch and I literally hiked the ball, quickly recieved it again ran hard and straight and popped it off to Ashley Freeborn (a teammate who played EVERY sport with me). She was playing wing. No one was there to defend her and she ran to the end of the field and we had our first try. I was hooked. All 6 of the coaches immediately lost their minds. Chad Richmond, Troy Richmond, Scott Marlow, Andrew Tobey, Napoleon Cummings and Jeremy Blanchard were going insane. And all I heard was Chad yell, "THAT'S RUGBY!!!!!" To this day its still probably one of my best rugby memories.

After a few weeks of practicing we quickly discovered that there was a lot of technicalities to starting a team. We had begun practicing on an awful lumpy field called Carol Courts over by the Lee married housing and we weren't even allowed to do that on Lee campus without having each girl sign a waiver. With that, amoung many other things, Kevin Hudson the campus recreation director ended practices. Quickly, the boys called a meeting directing us on the next steps we needed to take. They made it very clear that while they supported us and wanted us to succeed, we had to put forth effort and make this possibility a reality. So, we were told we needed signatures. That night, we set out on a mission. Cheesy, I know but we were SO PUMPED to make this happen. We went to every single building on Lee's campus and honestly probably had AT LEAST 40% of Lee students sign a petition saying they supported having a women's rugby team. The next day we were in the dining hall at the door. And out of all the days, TODAY was the day that Paul Conn walked in. He signed, along with many other staff and falculty, and we considered the petition a sucess from then on out. With the right paperwork in line, we needed to have commited girls as well as officers, practices and matches set up. We held our first elections on the 3rd floor of the PCSU and finally had some leaders. Christina Fullerton (Smitty) and Katie Ayres were our chaplains,Natalie Scott was treasurer, I was secretary, Mamie Murphy was VP and Bekah Ladd was our first president. It was a VERY exciting day for us. The boys jumped right back in and continued to direct us and encourage us on. They always made it a point to say the wanted COMMITTED girls, girls who were good reflections of rugby and Lee. So as we were in the process of getting practices and matches authorized and schedule, we found other ways to bond and come together. We had socials, meetings and even dressed up for chapel and sat together with the boys. The most important piece, however, came at the suggestion of the boys. They told us to better understand it coming out to some of their practices and definitely catching the games would really be beneficial. We became devoted fans of the boys.

At first it was mass confusion so we ended up laughing more with one another than actually grasping what was going on at practices. As the games started up though, it really came together. There was something about those sunny rugby Saturdays in the spring that really made for great memories and pictures. As the boys progressed into their Matrix season and we became regular fixtures at their events the boys and us really got a lot of attention. The home matches became a huge success, many people there to cheer them on and many of us explaining rugby to the ones who didn't understand. The boys head coach (Coach Guy) invited us to travel with them to away matches. When they had the room, he even allowed us to ride the bus. But when they didn't, we made it a point to drive to their games.

FINALLY we got approval to practice. Our practices began and we were all in it, 100%.
The boys falculty sponser even offered to attend some practices and help direct us. His name was Dr. Michael Freake and he had an awesome accent that was unforgettable. By the end of the semester, we had our first match ever scheduled. And it was against Emory. They came to Lee University on one the most beautiful Saturdays I can remember. But, maybe thats just given the context surrounding the day :)I remember watching that game and being so incredibly excited the WHOLE TIME. I couldn't play because of a knee injury that I had gotten from softball earlier in the week, of course, just my luck. It was the ugliest game after watching the boys play so much but it didn't matter the least bit because it was US playing. Lee University Women's Rugby Football Club. LWRFC. Neither team was very advanced but some how we managed to absolutely murder Emory. The sir blew his whistle to end the game and our team looked like a bunch of girls who just met the Jonas Brothers. Everything we worked so hard for finally paid off. We shook hands and went on our way, despite the grumpy Emory girls who told Dr. Freake, who had been the sir for the game, that we were "making racist statements" and being "overly aggressive". Haha. They haven't used that one since and they still have yet to beat us.

After the Emory match came the VA Tech tournament. No THE VIRGINIA TECH TOURNAMENT. We traveled 4 or 5 hours to a cold, damp Virginia to play in a prom dress tournament. The match schedule put us against huge schools with lots of talent and experience. Virginia Tech and Appalachian State University. We found a church who was willing to let us stay for free in a trailor they normally used to visiting guests. So one bed, one shower and 15 or so girls made for an interesting weekend. We had a broken van window, 3 concussions, 80+ points scored on us, unspeakable amounts of pain and a Dr. Freake who probably never wanted to see us again. We bombed that tournament. And did an excellent job at it. We almost ALMOST scored a try once, it was so exciting that even the opposing team cheered as Mamie ran down the field. Unfortunately, she was stopped by the biggest girl ever and was literally on her back on the girls belly kicking trying to place the ball to the ground. Hilarious. Not to mention our referee was drunk and high. I kid you not, he literally said in front of Natalie and I right before kickoff, "I never used to bring weed on the pitch until I found out you can mix it with dip". And he put some in his mouth. At the end of the 2nd half of the last match of the day he said, "Guys, I'm gonna start calling some crazy shit out there, so just go with it!" And OH HE DID. We would knock the ball, put hands in the ruck, you name it and all I ever heard was, "PLAY ON!!!!!!!!" Later that night we went to a bar for a social and experinced the most debauchery that LWRFC probably to this day even, has ever experienced. Lesbian and bisexuals, all but 1. Drunk, high, horny and absolutely out of control. It was all hilarious. They absolutely loved us though. Dr. Freake probably wanted to just shrivel up and die but he was so so SO patient with us and really lead by example. So after was all said and done we finally dragged our happy butts back home to Tennessee. Oh and one more thing, the sir from the match won Prom QUEEN.

Our first semester of rugby wrapped up and Fall 2008 was here before we knew it. Somehow, even after the VA Tech tournament, we managed to con Dr. Freake into being our coach. Even after he so adamantly told us not to call him coach prior to, now he had no choice. We traveled to Tennesse Tech and watched the boys play in a tournament. I think what I got out of that even more than the game of rugby was the brotherhood the guys had formed. Well, that and their obsession for Brad Pitt, particularly Jason Shrable's. Haha! They really showed us that we should stick together and continue on such an amazing tradition that they had started. We played several games that semester and had a heart-breaking injury. Our new president, Natalie Scott was out not just for the season but for the rest of her rugby career. Now we had even more drive to succeed. To do it for Natalie, who loved the sport so much and couldn't be out there to play alongside us. We had a fairly successful season, mostly coming together as a team and recruiting new girls really is what that season was about. That, and the logistics of the club. We still had debt to pay off from the previous team at Lee who disbanded shortly after their first season.
Miraculously, we paid off all our debt to the Matrix and prepared for our big entrance into the Matrix.

Spring 2008 is when we really set ourselves apart from the boys. We did service projects, held socials, traveled and overall didn't have as much time to offer as much support to the boys as we would have liked. But they still cheered us on when they could and offered their time at many practices. By the end of the first Matrix season we finished about half our games one and half lost. The great news was though is that we had an awesome season, several games were very close, we had a rilvalry (MTSU) and TONS of support and attention drawn to our team. And in the midst of it all our focus continued to be the same thing, draw girls in and show them this team was about heart. One girl in particular really kept my vision of the team alive. Emily Clausnitzer. She was a petite and quite Asian girl who came to a practice in the fall and then stopped coming. After a lot of harrassing though, we earned her back. Emily never saw a ton of playing time but she ALWAYS LOVED being a part of the team, learning the sport. The boys carried themselves to a fantastic season that year, they made it all the way to the sweet 16 and I couldn't have been more estatic for them. I went to basic training on March 25th, 2009 so I recieved letters from Brad telling me about the amazing season they had. It was good to know that both teams were still going strong in the midst of all the confusion I was experiencing.]

Fall 2009.
Fall 2009 was THE season that turned our team around. We recruited many new girls and worked harder than ever to fulfill our rugby dreams. We had SO MANY GIRLS come and join. We even recruited several with some experience which was a huge feat for a program barely a two years old. One of them even was on the national team! Another successful season ended with the typical issues, teaching a group of girls new to the game how to mesh together on the pitch. But that took a backseat to the real success of our team, we were a family. We officially had the ability to bring girls in and KEEP them. They loved being a part of the team despite the work it took at times. Another major accomplishment was we officially got word that we were going to have a home field, over at Carol Courts where it all started. With all the support we showed and a lot of push from Coach Guy, Lee University was going to transform our original practice field into OUR RUGBY PITCH. On top of that, rugby was now a class in which we could recive college credits for taking. We had 7 girls also make the Mid-South All-Star team and play in an All-South tournament.

Spring 2010. This semester. 2 games into the season and 2 big wins. Against Auburn University and MTSU!!!!!! We FINALLY beat MTSU after games that they would win in literally the last 5 minutes. I couldn't be prouder. Even though I have yet to catch a game, I went to one practice and it was so apparent to me that if we have imagined our team 2 years ago, none of us would have fathomed such a fantastic group of girls and the perfect coach to lead us to victory. We're OFFICIALLY on the map!

Its the best feeling in the world watching this team grow, taking our own paths and yet still somehow coming back to the same mission, a team that stands the test of time. Granted, 2 years is a short amount of time but we accomplished more in 2 years than teams who have been around for 10 years have. My hopes for the teams is that both of us become college sports in which Lee will sponser. That is the ultimate goal I'm sure for many of us "old girls/guys". We have an excellent group of college students ready to carry on tradition and bring in some new ones. But no matter what, this is something that taught me so much more than rugby. I can't wait to come back and play in an alumni match. Thank y'all so much for the best years of my life. It's always going to hold a special memory in my heart. Chi Rho, Lee Rugby :)
*Zee was also a chaplain way back when we started, my B.