Rugby men don't respect women

Rugby men don't respect women. In fact, the whole rugby culture is degrading to women. So I've been told. Interestingly enough, I've never been told this by a woman actually involved in rugby, neither have I had this epiphany myself. The men's team and the ladies' team seem to appreciate working together, training together, drinking together and watching eachother play games.

Honestly, yes, some of the guys might be way nicer to random flirts at a club than their actual spouses - but does this have anything to do with rugby? I'm convinced these people would be lying and cheating even if they were ballet dancers. And more importantly, these people aren't always men! Truth to be told, yes, there's also the type that seem to go through a constant stream of interchangeable partners, more interested in exploring the physical world than the rest. But again, does it have anything to do with rugby? And just to be clear, it isn't exclusively male behaviour - I'd have to say us ladies give as good as we get. Stay objective and don't confuse a respectless attitude towards monogamy with a respectless attitude towards women.

Rugby encourages women to be confident human beings, it's a sport that rewards strength, skill and speed. It demands aggression and it teaches leadership. Now that doesn't really contribute to the illusion of the weaker sex, does it?

Moi moi Oppsala

Now this was officially the WORST job for the club ever! I've been behind a bar heaving with drunks and with broken cash registers, I've carried the scrum machine into winter lodging, I've moved furniture up and down spiral cases and sold underwear to my grandparents...but none of those times was as bad as this!

To start with, none of the other jobs started at 5 in the morning... It might've snowed during the bandy bar shift, but at least there wasn't heavy traffic aiming to splatter you with sludge. The signs we were putting up today weren't heavy, but made up for it with being too small and requiring magic fingers to assemble. Cat stranglers: too short, map reading ability at early hours: not satisfactory.

Afterwards, as the Scotsman drove to work, I happened to drowse off for a few minutes. In the middle of this highly enjoyable activity, someone called my mobile and shouted They got the baby, they got the baby! Who? What? When? Yes, my sweet sambo (a royalist in secret?) decided I just could not wait any longer before finding out about Sweden's new princess... After hanging up, the info in this phonecall came back to me in my half-dreams, weirdly mixed with the work we'd just done, and I later had to message my friend Hawkeye, who's girlfriend is due in a couple of weeks: You know, I dreamt about you guys tonight. You suddenly got 15 babies in the back seat of your car on the hard shoulder of Bärbyleden! He seemed a bit frightened.

TOUR TIME

I hear people have yet to realise it's time to show an interest in this year's tour. If the unlikely should've happened, and you've simply forgotten all about Leipzig and it's events, have a look here:

NOW SIGN UP FOR AMSTERDAM 2012!

P.S. There might also have been some training involved. And a game. Maybe two.

Uppsala RFC på Gränby C

The day started with finding a text in my phone from one of the girls who'd enthusiastically signed up for working. It was sent after midnight and written in such a hypercorrect mode one couldn't think anything else than that the sender was drunk and eager to hide it. Unfortunately I will not be able to attend the PR-thing tomorrow... Bad form.

However, everyone else was true to their word, and so a small group of volonteers put their rugby kit on and started harassing strangers. Hello, we're doing some PR for our club... was a line that worked way better than You look like a rugby player! or the aggressive We need you! A few lineouts impressed a couple of kids so much they begged to be lifted - new recruits to the juniors me thinks!

As the hours went by we became less and less picky - no person was too old or too weak to be informed about the best sport in the world. Astrid proved to be the Sunday shopper's favourite, and she claimed afterwards that all credit was to be given her innocent plaits.

Thank you everyone that came down, whether you actually spoke to people or just flexed your muscles in a tight top... Let's hope it made a difference!

Crossfit Uppsala

Yesterday was a big day for the ladies. We met up at Uppsala Crossfit for a 90 minute session where technique was the main focus - some instructions to enable everyone to do heavier weightlifting correctly. The target of the evening was the so called Hang Clean. Our instructor broke it down to smaller excercises before it was time to try the whole movement, and by that time our legs was already wobbly (although noone complained loudly).

The last 10 minutes was spent doing weighted sit-ups and burpies in teams, myself and B1 panting frantically in the left hand corner, eager to win. Sadly, we did not and had to be content with lifting the heaviest load (Crossfit veterans aside)... 

(THIS is a big day for the blog - first video appearence ever!)

Over and out!

So this is it? Retired from the inner circle of Uppsala Rugby at the modest age of...let's say 29. No more board meetings. No more signing emails with 'ladies representative'. Hm. Does this mean I don't get to decide everything anymore? (Probably not, the club is still just as desperate for more people to take responsibility for stuff.)

The next task I've given myself is to find new players. Since half the starting lineup is gone from the ladies team something needs to be done! For example: come see us at Gränby C on Sunday around lunch - we'll be doing some lineouts and handing out flyers to everyone that seems capable of chucking a rugby ball.