Rugby: It's even better than Ultimate Frisbee

So at the info-fair, a big event where clubs have tables to get people to sign up, I signed up to learn more about Flames WWU's rugby team. I have since gone to several practices and loved it! I'm still learning the rules (there are a lot of them and some are rather strange) but I am having so much fun! The girls on the team are friendly and even though we all don't know each other very well yet and are still learning names we all say "Hi!" to each other around campus. It didn't take very long at all to learn that while yes, rugby is a tough sport it's not crazy body slamming everywhere. Even though no pads are worn (excepting a mouth guard) I believe it to be considerably safer than football. We take much better care of ourselves and how we tackle than in football due to the fact we aren't so protected. In football people throw themselves every which way because they have a false sense of protection. In rugby there is a very specific way to tackle as well as fall, and it is practiced a lot to make sure it is done right.

Today there were several rugby games going on in Seattle and a few of us decided to go down and see one of the earlier ones. Four of us rookies went as well as 6 veterans. This was quite the learning experience for us rookies; none of us had seen a game before. As the game went on we were getting a play by play from the Vet's: rules that we hadn't learned yet, testing us on the positions names. A new thing that I learned was that at specific plays in the game when you need the throw a ball back in bounds you can lift a person up to try and grab the ball. I was told that I would be good at this position due to the fact I'm tall and skinny. I'm also apparently suited for a few other positions during other parts of the game due to the fact I'm tall.

I'll update more on the rules and the actual names of the positions and such once I begin to get a handle on them myself.

In other news... I went to the WWU volleyball game against Central today. WWU won!!! though I have to say I was a little ashamed at times to be from WWU the way some of the other participants were acting. Very unsportsman like...but we won!!