For the first time in nearly 100 years, rugby has made its way back into the Olympic Games. Here in Wisconsin, girls at one high school have the unique opportunity to play the rough and tough sport.
“A lot of people think that girls aren't as naturally aggressive,” said Christopher Kurth, the Head Girl’s Rugby Coach at Oak Creek High School. “They think that girls aren't necessarily suited for this type of sport. We find that that is absolutely not the case.”
“A lot of these girls are tremendously aggressive,” he went on to explain. “A lot of them are very physical and condition in the off-season…It takes girls of all shapes and sizes and athletic abilities.”
As a former rugby player himself, Kurth is teaching these girls, who are relatively new to the sport, proper skills and technique.
“It's such a complex game,” Kurth explained. “There's 15 different positions on the field. Each position has its own unique skills you have to learn for it.”
And the same goes for the rules. It takes time to learn them.
“The main part is you have to pass backwards and if you pass forwards,” Olivia Culver tried to explain. “I don't even know all of the rules.”
“In rugby, you can't throw the ball down field,” Kurth added. “You're not allowed to block on offense, and when you get tackled you have to set the ball on the ground so you don't have downs of course.”
But you do tackle. The physicality doesn't bother these girls. It's why they play.
“Well I grew up with older brothers so I've always kind of been kind of a physical person and I'm kind of used to it,” Meta Martinez said with a laugh. “It’s fun. I like it.”
“It's really bad at the beginning because like, ‘Oh I have to hit somebody,” Culver recalled. “And then it's like, ‘Okay, it's not that bad anymore.’”
Yes, they walk away with aches and bruises, but they'll be back the next day, just like a true warrior.
