Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Rugby in a few short words with more to follow

I’ve never played the sport, although I admire those that do, both male and female. Several of my friends husbands play, several of my new friends play, I’ve trained almost a dozen of them, and well there’s a lot to consider. It takes a good amount of endurance, speed and agility, and strength. It takes passion, accountability, dedication to hard work and a touch (or more) of nutrition and recovery.

Speed and agility today, practice tomorrow, conditioning the next, and game day to follow, yikes! It’s almost as if these players have a part time job, oh wait… they do.

The demands of a chosen sport are real, it’s not some sort of Nancy game you decide to just partake in. As with all sports, you need to be serious at times, you need to focus, you need to train, you need to practice, and you need to develop your skills, among many other things.

How do you balance the demands of life, your work, your home, your play with your sport? For those who are passionate and serious you find a way, for those who are not one area begins to slack. Balance is key, and your success is how much you put into it.

4 comments:

kate said...

Yaaaay rugby! Seriously, though, I think all athletes who are participating in a sport that requires a high level of commitment and balancing that with a career can speak to the mental and physical challenges that must be overcome... Rugby, especially, requires hours off the pitch to fully realize your potential in the myriad skills that are required to succeed. Thanks for the shout out!

Pamela MacElree said...

Hey Kate, thanks for writing. While I plan on diving a little further into some aspects of rugby, you are right on with this,

"all athletes who are participating in a sport that requires a high level of commitment and balancing that with a career can speak to the mental and physical challenges that must be overcome... "

In order to succeed at your sport you need to stay on top of your game, and in order to advance in your profession you need to stay on top of your career. Giving in to one over the other sucks.

BJJ is similar, not in the sport itself but in the demands of the skills required to succeed.

CI said...

Good post Pam.

Rugby is tough. I only played one year, but I deal some with our local team still.

It is a huge time commitment. Practice 2 times per week (2+ hours), then more conditioning and fitness/agility/strength on the off days and games on the weekend. Moreover, some teams have to spend a good deal of time fundraising because 1/2 of their games involve travel. This of course is on top of full-time jobs and school in some cases. I don't know how they do it, the only thing I can guess is that they are all pretty young and of course, Rugby is an addiction for some of them :)


Unfortunately, i didn't take it up until my 30s after I finished Grad school. I've got a job that can often mean 60 hour work weeks and It wasn't worth potential injury and not being able to walk the next day to do long term. My main goal is fitness. Regardless, it was a great experience and I'm glad I tried it.


It is a great sport for building camaraderie. It is also a sport that has a position for just about anyone regardless of height and to some extent even build.

Good luck with your athletes. I'm sure the CF + KB combo will be a good one in terms of "time savers" for them.

CI

Pamela MacElree said...

Hey Cate, long time. Thanks for your thoughts on this. I agree. It's a lot of work and requires much dedication.