Sports!
“The only way to prove you are a good sport is to lose.”
— Ernie Banks.
I stared at the screen for a long time because i couldn’t think of what my first post is going to be. After four cups of coffee and several head scratches i thought of sports. i know the heading is boring and to some of you not so interesting.. and no i am not here to try and convince you the go out and play sports or to go down to your local Rugby, Gaa pitch and support your club no.. i am not a hypocrite i am just hear to talk about my love for sports.
So i was thrown into sports at a young age because my mother always said i had too much energy and i do thank her for doing that because my life would have been so different than what it is now. As i lived in a small village in the country side i was had to play on the boys team.. i went through the stage of them not passing the ball to me because yano “girls have cooties” but they soon realised that i had a good boot on me and i wasnt afraid of anyone!! i dominated the boys teams.. the other teams were too scared to mark me and i thought i was the bee’s knee’s.
Until…
The local club sets up a girls team. i was over the moon at the star,t i thought i would be unstoppable like playing with the boys but noooo i was very much wrong. I soon realized the boys didn’t want to mark me because they didn’t want to hurt me. The Girls were fearless and i met my competition. Training got harder but i still loved it.
Over the years i jumped from sport to sport. i didn’t know what i wanted to do and what i wanted to stick with on till my accident. i developed a growth diseases in my knees that was brought on from playing too much sport. At 14 this was heart breaking because all i wanted to do was play sports but now i had to put my sporting life on hold and get my health up! It took me a good while to get used to having evenings free and not going training and it made me realize that i have to pick one sport and stick to that.
One year later i’m back! you would think after a year i would have picked the sport i was going to stick with but nope! I decided to chance my arm at rugby because my brothers played it. Dad brought me training and i never looked back. i have found my new sport and the one i want to stick to. I know i said in my first few lines that i don’t want to be a hypocrite but here are 10 facts that girls should play rugby.
- The workout
It’s the best workout of your life: Forget Legs, Bums and Tums at your local fitness center. Rugby will give you a high intensity, full body workout that will transform your body faster than any gym programme.
2. Improve self-confidence
You’ll be more confident: Playing rugby is one of the fastest ways to realize that, actually, you’re pretty damn resilient. This confidence will transcend the rugby pitch and spill over into your working and social lives too
3. The social life (improves the more you age)
Playing a team sport such as rugby provides interaction and inclusion which in turn allows you to forge friendships that often carry on away from the field and to the bar! Solidarity and respect are both characteristics of rugby but also of successful friendships.
4. The friendship bonds
You’ll make unbreakable bonds: You’ll want to throw everything on the line for your teammates, and they’ll sure as hell do exactly the same for you.
5. Friends with the opposition too
More often than not, you’ll find yourself sharing a drink or two with the opposition after the match.
6. It’s actually safer than most sports
I don’t think rugby has ever been safer than it is today. With changes in scrum laws, almost overkill emphasis on not lifting the player in the tackle and a general dim view on any kinds of foul play, the bad injuries are fewer in number/
7. Your Legs!!!
You’ll get the best legs you’ve ever seen: Apart from when they’re covered in bruises, of course but you wont be afraid to show them off.
8. Everybody is welcome
Any body type is welcomed: You don’t have to be a 15 stone monster to play rugby – there really is a position for everyone. If you’re small and agile, you’ll make the perfect winger. If you’re bigger and stronger, you’ll have a lot of fun as a forward
9. Food… Two dinners on match day is acceptable!
For foodies out there this is a clincher. After a tough game you have earned a post match meal on a Sunday at the club, but there is nothing stopping you from having that roast when you get home too!
10. It is fun
Enough said really.
Meaghan x
Meaghan's Blog 