Playing Rugby in NYC
I'm assuming that most of the people who read this blog have been on a team long enough to know how much work is involved "behind the scenes" during the season. In most cases, there are a few key people who do most of the work. While this is also true of NYRC, our key people have the additional challenge of doing it with what I call the "NYC Factor ", which speaks to the differences and difficulties that arise from living in NYC.
Challenges:
Coordinating traveling and finding rides for games (even home games) - With 40+ players on your team and only 6-7 cars, everytime it works out seems like a miracle. Usually for NYRC, one player will organize all the rides for the season. This person must have a degree in complex problem solving to be able to optimize routes, pick-up times, return trips, etc. Baja has been doing a great job doing both match secretary and travel logistics. It's really a tough job that is underappreciated.
Washing jerseys - We have to walk all of our laundry to the laundromat down the street and then lug it all back home after we're done babysitting it on a sunday afternoon. Remember your jug of quarters! Don't stuff too many into the same one or you'll be there all night.
Getting to practice on time - Most players take public transportation everywhere which is pretty good most of the time, but it's tough to predict when there will be a subway problem. Players that live/work outside of Manhattan typically drive through lots of NYC traffic during rush hour through the overly congested bridges and tunnels. Since I work on Long Island, I spend many frustrating hours in the car battling traffic to get into the city.
Finding field space - NYC has very little field space as you can imagine. In the concrete jungle of over 8 million people, possible practice fields (and game fields) are on the outskirts of the city (and a long trip by public transportation!). Rugby will often take second priority to soccer and softball, but we've had wonderful support from the Hudson River Park Trust who has made it a lot easier for us by allowing us to use their turf fields. (Sidenote: We practice on turf now and we find those black rubber pellets everywhere)
Managing our equipment - For storage, we have a large container on Randall's Island (our old home field), but it is quite out of the way to get there (and poor public trans) and only the few people with cars can transport equipment. We got a new container at our practice space on 23rd St +11th Ave, but we only practice there on Tuesdays. That means that smaller things like the ball bags, jerseys, tent, rucking pads, med kit, etc. have found homes in the few cars that we have. Don't ask what happens if someone who has the jerseys can't make it to a game - suffice it to say there are a lot of phone calls to determine a hand-off that will ultimately be inconvenient for both parties. I coined the term "Quartermaster" last year when I was in charge of keeping track of the equipment and have handed over responsibilities to Jen Epstein (Juan) who is also the FOO (Field Operating Officer) and is doing an awesome job in both areas.
Hosting - Living in (or near) NYC means that we live in small apartments, with even smaller bedrooms. Finding places to put our guests is ofter quite a challenge. You can also imagine that since very few of us have cars, doing airport pick-ups and getting everyone to the game is another logistical nightmare. Not to mention having to transport all the field equipment like goal post pads, flags, chalk/spray liners, etc.
Socials and Fun - Because of our small apartments we can't have the social at someone's house without having to stand on top of each other. That means we have to go to a bar where it's tough to keep costs low (although Audie has been doing a great job finding good locations and special deals). Potlucks would be nice, but bars don't usually let us bring food in and we New Yorkers don't cook much (even if we did, we'd have to take it on the subway!?!). Also since we all live pretty spread out around NYC, getting together outside of practice is tough. Aside from a small pocket of players who live in park slope, brooklyn, it's difficult to just hang out without making big plans to meet up somewhere centralized making it tougher to do team bonding or just getting to know the other players on the team.
Even little things most people take for granted are difficult - since most people go to practice straight from work, we have our kit in a bag that we lug around all day. This wouldn't be such an issue except when you're on a crowded subway bus or have to walk a ways to get to the field. Having a car allows me not to worry about my rugby bag during the day and gives me a great place to change before practice, but many other players have to go through rush hour with a big rugby kit bag.
All of this being said, we make it work however we can. NYRC is made up of great people who step up and take care of business, with players volunteering to help with almost anything. The purpose of writing all this is not to complain or to put down living in NYC (which has a lot of fun plusses!), but instead to highlight how much work goes on behind the scenes and how much more challenging rugby can be if you live in a big city. I'm also sure that other teams are face similar problems or are working to address more fundamental problems like recruiting, coaching, or retaining players.
What are the challenges for your team? Leave me a comment, I'd be interested to know!
Challenges:
Coordinating traveling and finding rides for games (even home games) - With 40+ players on your team and only 6-7 cars, everytime it works out seems like a miracle. Usually for NYRC, one player will organize all the rides for the season. This person must have a degree in complex problem solving to be able to optimize routes, pick-up times, return trips, etc. Baja has been doing a great job doing both match secretary and travel logistics. It's really a tough job that is underappreciated.
Washing jerseys - We have to walk all of our laundry to the laundromat down the street and then lug it all back home after we're done babysitting it on a sunday afternoon. Remember your jug of quarters! Don't stuff too many into the same one or you'll be there all night.
Getting to practice on time - Most players take public transportation everywhere which is pretty good most of the time, but it's tough to predict when there will be a subway problem. Players that live/work outside of Manhattan typically drive through lots of NYC traffic during rush hour through the overly congested bridges and tunnels. Since I work on Long Island, I spend many frustrating hours in the car battling traffic to get into the city.
Finding field space - NYC has very little field space as you can imagine. In the concrete jungle of over 8 million people, possible practice fields (and game fields) are on the outskirts of the city (and a long trip by public transportation!). Rugby will often take second priority to soccer and softball, but we've had wonderful support from the Hudson River Park Trust who has made it a lot easier for us by allowing us to use their turf fields. (Sidenote: We practice on turf now and we find those black rubber pellets everywhere)
Managing our equipment - For storage, we have a large container on Randall's Island (our old home field), but it is quite out of the way to get there (and poor public trans) and only the few people with cars can transport equipment. We got a new container at our practice space on 23rd St +11th Ave, but we only practice there on Tuesdays. That means that smaller things like the ball bags, jerseys, tent, rucking pads, med kit, etc. have found homes in the few cars that we have. Don't ask what happens if someone who has the jerseys can't make it to a game - suffice it to say there are a lot of phone calls to determine a hand-off that will ultimately be inconvenient for both parties. I coined the term "Quartermaster" last year when I was in charge of keeping track of the equipment and have handed over responsibilities to Jen Epstein (Juan) who is also the FOO (Field Operating Officer) and is doing an awesome job in both areas.
Hosting - Living in (or near) NYC means that we live in small apartments, with even smaller bedrooms. Finding places to put our guests is ofter quite a challenge. You can also imagine that since very few of us have cars, doing airport pick-ups and getting everyone to the game is another logistical nightmare. Not to mention having to transport all the field equipment like goal post pads, flags, chalk/spray liners, etc.
Socials and Fun - Because of our small apartments we can't have the social at someone's house without having to stand on top of each other. That means we have to go to a bar where it's tough to keep costs low (although Audie has been doing a great job finding good locations and special deals). Potlucks would be nice, but bars don't usually let us bring food in and we New Yorkers don't cook much (even if we did, we'd have to take it on the subway!?!). Also since we all live pretty spread out around NYC, getting together outside of practice is tough. Aside from a small pocket of players who live in park slope, brooklyn, it's difficult to just hang out without making big plans to meet up somewhere centralized making it tougher to do team bonding or just getting to know the other players on the team.
Even little things most people take for granted are difficult - since most people go to practice straight from work, we have our kit in a bag that we lug around all day. This wouldn't be such an issue except when you're on a crowded subway bus or have to walk a ways to get to the field. Having a car allows me not to worry about my rugby bag during the day and gives me a great place to change before practice, but many other players have to go through rush hour with a big rugby kit bag.
All of this being said, we make it work however we can. NYRC is made up of great people who step up and take care of business, with players volunteering to help with almost anything. The purpose of writing all this is not to complain or to put down living in NYC (which has a lot of fun plusses!), but instead to highlight how much work goes on behind the scenes and how much more challenging rugby can be if you live in a big city. I'm also sure that other teams are face similar problems or are working to address more fundamental problems like recruiting, coaching, or retaining players.
What are the challenges for your team? Leave me a comment, I'd be interested to know!
posted by Lee Knight at 11:13 PM
3 Comments:
if I can make it here, I'll make it anywhere. Its up to you - New York, Newy York!
I truly believe that...
ok, i'll stop whining about people living 5 minutes away from the pitch that cannot make it in time for practise..
or myself, i have to travel only half an hour ;-)
i'm not sure about turf, though, as we always have footballers (soccer players) on our pitch and they ruin it big time!
i loved the staten island pitch (for the view and the nearby deli) but i guess, as a new yorker, it's a pain to get there (i was the very wet girl taking pictures and hollering for the stingers as they were the losing side).
Great post. I had a small idea that getting to practice was an ordeal - one of our players just moved back from NYC and didn't play while there because it was so hard to get to practice - but wow.
You make me appreciate Austin, where driving across town usually takes 20 minutes. We also have the local Division 1's clubhouse to use for tournaments and such. Here our problems include bad pitches and hard ground (rugby never would have been invented in Texas) and a lack of nearby competitive play.
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