Guess what I did today.
(I've never understood - should the phrase "Guess what..." have a question mark at the end? Because it's not actually a question, it's a command, but it assumes a question will be asked. Hmmm.)
I played in a rugby match today.
I won't say I played well. But I played my first real game today! Against girls who weren't from my own team!
Okay first off, why none of you knew this would be happening today: Because *I* didn't know. Here was the plan for today: 1.) get up, go to the first beginners' rugby practice of the year. 2.) Maybe stay and watch the Panther's first game of the term, since I knew a few of the girls now (although honestly I would have to be a saint to stay for that game to just watch, because of the weather) 3.) Go home, shower, spend some time reading, 4.) go to the 6pm service at church. - a relaxed day with a work out at the start.
Here is what happened today instead: I got up (so far so good), I went to rugby. It was at a different pitch today, and so I met up with another one of the beginner girls so we could find it. Practice was good - we have at least 5 new girls to join! I wasn't one of the newbies any more, I was one of the three girls who knew what I was doing before we did it! Okay so everything is going pretty well. It's COLD outside and WET (as in, while we were walking there, we got a tiny bit of snow/sleet, nothing notable/white, just like rain that happens to be frozen). But practice was good. These new girls are picking stuff up SO fast! Faster than we did I think. They're gonna be great.
Okay so then right as we're doing the practice de-brief, the couch looks at me and my friend who I walked with and says "Do you two want to play today?" And we just kinda stood there like deer in headlights and went "....yes?" Feeling like we were diving off a waterfall. A very cold waterfall. So he takes us over to the changing rooms, where all the other girls on the panthers team are waiting, including a few of the girls I knew from beginner's practice last term who are on the team now. And she and I are just sitting there like "okay what are we doing? where do we go?" We didn't even have shirts/numbers, etc. We kinda just stand around while the others get ready - we're already in our boots and already covered in mud. As subs, we layered up as best we could (those sweatpants were supposed to NOT get mud on them!!) and then went out with the teams to warm up. As a forward I got a crash-course on scrumming (I did indeed play as prop) and then apparently I was ready? I wasn't.
This match was a friendly, which is why they let us sub. The other team was good though. For the first half of the game we sat on the sidelines. And DID I MENTION IT WAS COLD?! It was so cold. And windy. And wet. And cold. My body was not made for this. Anyway after freezing on the sidelines for most of the game, and pretty much praising God that the couch hadn't put me in yet (the more I watched the more I realized that I had NO idea what I was doing), anyway near the end of the game I finally here "okay we're gonna sub in Rissa in about 5 min." Which was, you know, terrifying. But I took my coats and sweats off and was handed a previously subbed girl's shirt (which was like 3-4 sizes to small btw. It may actually have been the smallest shirt I have ever warn) and told "you'll be playing Prop" as I jogged on the pitch, not even knowing who I was replacing until she came to me.
I basically spent the entire end of the game (not long - less than 15 min. I'm sure) just being in the way and being in the wrong place. I made 1 tackle, helped with a few more, had the ball once, during which time i was tackled before I could pass it on, and sadly the other team won the ruck :(. As it was a friendly, and not in good conditions, we were playing uncontested scrums (which means they were really easy, just line up and lean, no fighting). I was involved in those a lot because we had a lot of knock ons on both sides. There was a line-in, but I wasn't involved. No one scored while I was on the pitch, though they got close. We ended up winning the game, though not by much. We went back inside, limping a bit, changed shoes, and had some burnt pizza, and one of my friends got player of the match!
I am still in shock, physically and mentally. I am so beat up. I have inhaled SO much freakishly cold air, my throat is terrible. My toes hurt a lot. I've been wearing contacts today a lot longer than usual. I am so tired that I skipped the 6pm service, and right now I'm only hoping that I feel up to the 8pm service. I may just roll over and die first. Right now I'm just hoping I don't get sick from the cold. Hopefully I can, like, move my muscles and neck tomorrow. And like walk. My first class is on Tuesday, so I have tomorrow to do my reading.
I got a new mouthgaurd over break, and fit it and trimmed it this morning, but I'm still having some trouble with it. Men's mouthgaurds are just hard to breath in! I do not like them. That was distracting. Mostly I just had NO idea what I was doing. I had no clue WHERE I was supposed to be. I've never played with that many girls on one team before, so I didn't know what to do or where to be. I didn't know who all the other forwards were, or what to do during a ruck which I wasn't involved in. Do I join? Stand back and give depth? I don't know. I was offsides a lot, but never caused a penalty for it. I need to remember to give more depth. I just... I can't run that much. I have NO stamina. I wasn't in the right place because I didn't know where the right place was, but also because I couldn't run enough to get there.
So yeah. I had a surprising, very hard day today. But I played my first real game of rugby! I am so tired. And still so cold, after a long, hot shower. I probably still have mud on me despite washing just about everywhere twice :P
But hey. They thought enough of me to ask, and I was willing enough to say yes! I didn't waste my shot ;)
Now I have to decide how much I'm gonna do for the rest of term. I'm a rugger now!
Thanks
Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
P.S. Pics!
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