Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Rugby Recruiting, Stereotypes, Team Structure, and Dues

First off I've been doing a lot better staying off my computer and keeping active. Yesterday was my last day of work so I made it a race to see how many fix-it tickets I could finish in my half day (14). They were ALL third floor problems *grumble* I hate college 8 kids *in a whiny tone* "ummm so like I bought this shelf can you help me assemble it? " NO! "Ummmmm likeeee sooooo we want a second fridge" ok....go out and buy one! Arghh it's only been three days and they've already screwed the paint job we worked on all summer long. I could complain forever. It's over. Done. Alright new topic...

I only worked a half day yesterday since it was our schools fall festival (where clubs compete with sororities + frats to save their souls jk jk) uh but yea it was personally disheartening to see what my school is transforming into. Ugh where are the hippies!? This is UC Santa Cruz! Where are my smelly vegan hippies at?! Where are my die-hard extreme eco-terrorist political activists?! Where are my spiritually centered sustainable I compost my own crap farming folks? Where are the people who can walk out the door without an hour and a half MINIMUM of makeup + hair??? Where are my sensitive uber-otaku nerds at?! Ykno I don't actually mind the sororities we currently have, they're actually pretty cool and empathetic and it was a little sad that they were falling in with us in agreeing that Santa Cruz is making a turn for the worst. I'm allowed to be a little bitter, I caught a lot of stick today. It sucks promoting a sport where there is no body type and gah @(*#)&@*# it just pissed me off. Yea they're freshmen but c'mon...wake up...you're going to college...being an ignorent asshole just doesn't cut it to be cool. Just some fun sample quotes. "OH Noooooo rugby is too intense *giggle*"...and as they're walking away "sHe'd snap me in half...*heehee* He'd snap me in half" Or how every third guy would be like "women's rugby no thanks *hahaha*" and a couple of guys would say "well if you count as a woman I guess I could play women's rugby". Yea...normally it slides off the back but 4 1/2 hours of that..yea it sucked.

Got a number of enthusiastic rookies but we'll once again see how it'll turn out. Man I wish I could stay another year. But I'll get over it...I'm sure. It sounds exciting this year with more teams in our league. Pre-season should be fun though, we've got a number of good D1 matches lined up (Stanford and Davis for sure) plus scrum by the sea. We had a scrambled meeting that was basically a re-iteration of a meeting that I wasn't invited to. I'm skeptical but uninvolved in the new power-structure. Before last year we never voted for captains. They just stepped up. I'm a politics major...I'm not really down for democracy in all situations. Anyhoo just curious what other collegiate clubs do. (and I'm really doubtful of voting for a captain, field captain especially before practice has even started). MEh. They're club not mine.

I paid dues, 30 bucks for a collegiate player and 20 for Pac Coast Territorial Union. I can't recall what our club dues are but I'm sure I'll be reminded of it sooner rather then later. I want to do a survey/some research to see what kind of dues that the different levels of rugby charge. Breaking down women's senior club to the proposed super league, d1 regionally, and dii. Yea it'll take some footwork and I got distracted looking at the New York Roster...I'm such a sucker for a well maintained web-site.

Important side-note! Alex Williams (Berkeley All Blues Head Coach)is running another one of her collegiate/high school developmental camps early in January. You should read up on Alex William's Rugby Camp and email her on the contacts page to tell her you're interested. I went to this last summer and it was awesome! Meeting players from all over (as well as a number of u-23 eagles preparing for their tour to NZ) and learning from some of the best coaches and players in the nation! Yea just go alright!

Fitness-wise I was pretty drained after opers but I still went through my handling practice. Twenty-five static passes a side (still working on turning my damn shoulders towards the target and passing across the chest). Also worked on 5 dummy and then a back flick pass. 5 Dummy and then that weird 7s pass around + behind your head. Lastly I did fifteen dummy and pass.

Today I'm lifting light weights (gotta work on my hamstring and surrounding muscle) and then a pool workout. And painting our new janky home-made scrum machine...we'll see how it works out. Our old backs coach designed it...ehhhhh....yes...optimism.

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