GLOBAL RUGBY SEPTEMBER
When I arrived in Mexico
City about to embark on
six months of study abroad
I had no idea what to
expect….
I certainly did not predict my professor’s
reaction to my nationality “You’re from
New Zealand???? Then you simply must
join my husband’s rugby team!”
I was shocked. Even in my country where
rugby is the national sport, women’s
rugby is rare. A women’s rugby team in
Mexico was one of the last things I was
expecting to encounter.
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I arrived at my first practice towering
over most of the women and fearful that
my beginners Spanish and lack of rugby
knowledge would mean I couldn’t follow
the practice, catch the ball or make any
friends. Well by the end of that practice
my teammates had arranged rides for me
and I had been invited to two birthday
parties. Instantly I had a big Mexican
extended family I could rely on no matter
what. The fact that I was no female All
Black on the field didn’t matter a jot.
Because rugby is a relatively start up
sport in Mexico, I found a deep sense of
camaraderie between different clubs and
players and was impressed by the fair play
standards. Camaraderie and team loyalty
ran so deep at times it slowed the games.
My one minor injury bought the game to
an abrupt halt while both teams cared for
me even though it is protocol in rugby to
keep playing until the next penalty.
and a long night of dancing. For me it was
bittersweet – soon I would return to New
Zealand and leave behind this newfound
family. A family who had embraced me
for who I was, helped me to get super
fit, improve my Spanish enormously,
shown me how to party and above all had
been incredibly kind to me. Ending up in
professor Alexandra’s class was a lucky
Being part of a rugby team allowed me
break. Maybe also it was a reminder to
to experience Mexico in a unique way.
embrace all opportunities and to take a
Traveling to tournaments with the club
chance on opportunities, which on the
I bypassed the overrated tourist haunts
surface look to be so unlikely but which
and got straight into the heart of the local can turn out to be really perfect.cultures.
The club knew how to celebrate. The
season club victory saw both the
women’s and men’s team a top a Mexico
City Turibus, ducking branches and
wires, singing and dancing, with short
pauses to do victory laps of the Angel of
Independence, then spilling out to our
‘regular’ – the Wallace bar in La Condesa.
My favorite trip was my final weekend in
Mexico, in which we played at a national
rugby tournament in Playa Del Carmen.
Four games in the intense heat… I can’t
pretend that was pure pleasure. But
believe me the recovery was! Swimming,
cerveza, mezcal, beach tournaments
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