No More Rain PLEASE!
I really like rugby but I like it a lot less when we're playing in the bone-chilling rain. It rained at our practice tonight and I'm done with all this rain. Almost every Saturday since our season started, Mother Nature has put us to the test.
The first game I played in this season was against Maryland at Staten Island and the rain was coming down sideways. It started off ok, but halfway through the warm-up the heavens opened up and the wind was ridiculous. We couldn't even keep the tent up because the wind was coming off the water (the Staten Island field is right on the beach). The developmental side played Providence and the rain seemed to calm down a bit. Thank goodness for the deli nearby that had hot chocolate.
The next weekend we travelled down to DC to play the Furies. Forecast called for rain but it also made it sound like it would be too cold. I guess even if it's in the 50s and it's rainy and windy, it's still going to be cold. Unfortunately I was nursing a shoulder sprain and wasn't playing, which meant that I didn't get to run around to stay warm but also meant that I didn't have to play in the mud puddles and the water-logged cotton jerseys. Both sides played in the downpour and sometime during the first game, my socks got wet and it was all downhill from there. Adding insult to injury, we had to park our cars beyond the hill and finally people started driving up to be closer to the field. But the damage was done.
We had off for Easter, so the next game was this past weekend against Chicago North Shore. Sure enough, forecast was rain. What's ridiculous was that the entire week was sunny and even hit the high 70s on Thursday. Just our luck that Saturday was rainy and cold. Since I hate being unprepared for inclement weather, I had a bunch of rain gear that I could give to the rookies who came wearing their cotton sweatshirts or sweatpants. God bless rookies. We gave them what I called a "gentle razzing" and then gave them some extra clothes. This game was less rainy (and on turf so no mud puddles), but still damp, cold, and unpleasant. It's really a challenge to maintain focus as a team when we're all distracted by the weather and thinking about staying warm instead of what we want to do in the game. On top of the weather, many of our players had some nasty flu/cough-of-death thing that was going around. The developmental side played a better game than our senior side and we were happy to change into warm clothes and go to the social.
All I'm saying is that rugby is infinitely more fun in nice weather. I realize that mental toughness is part of the sport, but I don't want to have to pack trash bags anymore!!!! Can I get an AMEN? Hopefully Ruggerfest this coming weekend in DC will be nice and sunny! April is almost over so those May flowers better be on their way...
The first game I played in this season was against Maryland at Staten Island and the rain was coming down sideways. It started off ok, but halfway through the warm-up the heavens opened up and the wind was ridiculous. We couldn't even keep the tent up because the wind was coming off the water (the Staten Island field is right on the beach). The developmental side played Providence and the rain seemed to calm down a bit. Thank goodness for the deli nearby that had hot chocolate.
The next weekend we travelled down to DC to play the Furies. Forecast called for rain but it also made it sound like it would be too cold. I guess even if it's in the 50s and it's rainy and windy, it's still going to be cold. Unfortunately I was nursing a shoulder sprain and wasn't playing, which meant that I didn't get to run around to stay warm but also meant that I didn't have to play in the mud puddles and the water-logged cotton jerseys. Both sides played in the downpour and sometime during the first game, my socks got wet and it was all downhill from there. Adding insult to injury, we had to park our cars beyond the hill and finally people started driving up to be closer to the field. But the damage was done.
We had off for Easter, so the next game was this past weekend against Chicago North Shore. Sure enough, forecast was rain. What's ridiculous was that the entire week was sunny and even hit the high 70s on Thursday. Just our luck that Saturday was rainy and cold. Since I hate being unprepared for inclement weather, I had a bunch of rain gear that I could give to the rookies who came wearing their cotton sweatshirts or sweatpants. God bless rookies. We gave them what I called a "gentle razzing" and then gave them some extra clothes. This game was less rainy (and on turf so no mud puddles), but still damp, cold, and unpleasant. It's really a challenge to maintain focus as a team when we're all distracted by the weather and thinking about staying warm instead of what we want to do in the game. On top of the weather, many of our players had some nasty flu/cough-of-death thing that was going around. The developmental side played a better game than our senior side and we were happy to change into warm clothes and go to the social.
All I'm saying is that rugby is infinitely more fun in nice weather. I realize that mental toughness is part of the sport, but I don't want to have to pack trash bags anymore!!!! Can I get an AMEN? Hopefully Ruggerfest this coming weekend in DC will be nice and sunny! April is almost over so those May flowers better be on their way...
posted by Lee Knight at 6:55 PM
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