(KY3) SPRINGFIELD, Mo. Rugby is a similar sport to football that uses an oval-shaped ball, but the players don’t wear protective gear, and you can only throw the ball backwards, not forwards.
Additionally, it dates back to the 1800s.
It’s played all throughout the world, according to Daniel Jester of Springfield Rugby. “And everyone claims that it is a game played in heaven.”
But similar to football, rugby has historically been seen as primarily a man’s sport due to its intense physicality.
The creator of the Springfield Women’s Rugby program, Katie Scott, stated that women weren’t initially permitted to participate in open rugby games. “However, most people are coming around, and they love the family-oriented side of it.”
After Springfield had a men’s squad since 1983, Scott oversaw the establishment of the Queen City Chaos women’s program, which has about 60 participants right now.
Many people, according to Scott, “felt a small amount of fear of the unknown.” But once they are here and start having so much fun, they contract the rugby bug and fall in love with it.
This year’s Chaos and Drury club squad, which also includes rugby for high schoolers, features Drury student Lilly Hertzog. Hertzog was initially concerned about hurting herself, but she ultimately caused harm to someone else.
Hertzog remarked, “I didn’t realize my own strength.” She fell flat on her back after I grabbed one of her legs and shoved her back about 10 feet. You feel better about yourself as a result.
Additionally, she knows someone if she ever gets hurt because she is a pre-med major.
She laughed as she added, “I can treat myself.
For utility corporations, Isabelle Trippe provides advisory services. She has spent four years aboard the Chaos. Despite her little size and a broken collarbone early in her rugby career, she is unfazed.
She smiled and continued, “I get labeled little but mighty. It’s addictive for someone my stature to be able to knock someone else to the ground.
Those who believe rugby is an unsuitable sport for women were asked what 34-year-old mother-of-two Lauren Holiday would respond.
She responded, “I disagree. “A lot of us are mothers, and raising children requires a lot of pain. In fact, I’m the first female player on the club to receive a yellow card. I released a chick. I hung her up to dry. In my opinion, rugby is a sport where ladies and boys are equally competitive.
At a recent competition, every player we spoke with identified two primary aspects of the game they enjoy: the sense of community and the opportunity to blow off some steam.
Trippe stated, “This is my escape from the real world.
Scott noted that there aren’t many physically demanding, full-contact sports for women. Because they have never been permitted to be aggressive, most women flourish when they have the chance to come out here and actually play a sport like this.
Hertzog claimed, “I grew up on a farm and always worked physically, but it was never acknowledged there. The ability to be physically aggressive and assertive in this environment has greatly boosted my self-confidence.
