Personal Narrative: Rugby

J.W. Loy Jr describes sport as an activity of play-like in nature, involves an element of competition, is based on physical prowess, involves elements of skill, strategy and chance and has an uncertainty of outcome. (Loy 1968, pp.2-8) All such elements are satisfied by the sport of Australian rules

As the nation’s gender inequality continues to diminish, things like sports stereotypes, and labour force conflict cannot be understood without understanding the term of identity. Identity work is explained by Schwalbe and Mason-Schrock in 1996 as “anything people do, individually or collectively, to give meaning to themselves or others” (as cited in Ezzell, 2009, p. 1). I propose to examine inequality based on gender identity and in depth the process of stereotype issues, - how people construct stereotypes in gender inequality in the context of sport- among women Rugby. The academic literatures are based on gender identity/ inequality, where it provides many examples of individuals deflecting the norms “by ... creat[ing] a unique identity as heterosexy-fit— simultaneously tough, heterosexual, and conventionally attractive” (Ezzell, 2009, p. 14). With the intention of deflecting/ creating an exception to these norms, it only creates greater issues as not only does society view them in a certain way, but also the player themselves. The overarching goal of the proposal is to address the social issue and understand why society to this date gives harsh views towards women’s rugby with a common stereotypical view. As an illustration the views were described by Ezzell (2009) who conducted a personal communication with some female rugby players who stated that other views them as: “scary, butch lesbians,” “she-males,” “he-shes,” “lesbian man-beasts,” and “butch,

In my opinion it is the best sport that I have ever came in contact with. Between Baseball, Basketball, Tennis and Track I believe that Football is the greatest sport ever created. It is my favorite thing in popular culture right now. The game of Football also allowed me to build character and grow as a person, and it taught me how to preserver through adversity. This game has enhanced my perception about commitment and sacrifice. This sport is the reason that I am able to attend the Howard University. This game is also a good stress reliever; I mean who wouldn’t want to hit someone legally without getting in trouble.

Well for me, football is my top favorite sport. When I was in school, I had a problem with authority, and teachers would often make me mad. I tried hard to control my aggression, frustration, and anger. I jumped into drugs and cigarettes to fights and gangs. Because nothing I tried worked, I went to football tryouts. I felt happy and excited for the first time in a long time; I eventually got on the field and ran and ran.

Sabo tells his readers “I learned to be an animal. Coaches took notice of animals. Animals made first team. Being an animal meant being fanatically aggressive and ruthlessly competitive” (7). This shows that the interference of acknowledgment of ones emotions caused by the normalized pain of injuries and the tough love generated throughout the sport is unacceptable if you want to be seen. The dogmatic belief of “pain is more important than pleasure” (10) is continuously being passed down through generations of teams. Society is teaching boys to look at taking pain as a badge of honor and courage. “I learned that pain and injury are ‘part of the game” (6). Most people want to get into sports or activities to have fun, but there are others, like Sabo, who play a sport to win a reward. “Like a young child who learns to dance or sing for a piece of candy, I played for rewards and payoffs” (3). In high school, I remember the teenage boys who succeeded in football were well-known across the school, dated the girls they wanted, and were accepted for the tough guys they seemed to be. “Winning at sports meant winning friends and carving a place for myself within the male pecking order” (3).

At age 16 I was told that I was incapable of being an athlete, I was told tennis was not a sport, I was told I could never play “a real man’s sport”. That same year, I stepped onto a soccer pitch for the first time in my life, I lined up against young men who had been playing the sport for more than a decade.Yet, I went out there with confidence and challenged them along with the notion that I could not play a real sport. Although, I was scared to embarrass myself, I knew that this decision would be one of the greatest I would ever make because of the life experiences I would gain from leaving my comfort zone for the first time,

During our first practice, we discovered how greatly we depended on our male teammates, and we understood that we could now only rely upon ourselves. As the next few months went on, each team member developed different skills, and I found myself drawn to the position of midfielder. This duty required me to run up and down the full field for entire games consisting of two forty-minute halves, whereas previously I found myself lucky to play for ten minutes per half. I attribute most of my growth to my coach, who repeatedly told me to be confident in my ability, which allowed me to take risks on the field. As I grew closer to my teammates and gained more in-game experience, I discovered that I was capable of far more than I previously thought. Being on the first female Varsity team taught me to never limit myself, and to always try harder, especially when I feel

Football is a game of passion, a time when nothing else matters and the only thing that matters is going out there having fun and fighting for the guy next to you. Football has always been something that I loved and had a wild passion for. I’ve made friendships and memories to last a life time and I can always be grateful that football did that for me. Now of course I’ve had some bad memories during football as well, I remember walking out of the film room on the last day of spring ball and having Coach Antle grab me and say “Gage, I think I want to try you at a new position, I want to put you at defensive end. We need you more there and we think you can really excel there.” I remember being so furious, I had played linebacker ever since I could remember and now the last day of spring ball my senior year everything was about to change.

Football is back as the first preseason game was played last Thursday. With football coming back, so does fantasy football. Like a lot of people (myself included), you’re scouring the internet for rankings. There’s plenty of rankings out there, but none of them tell you where to take a defense. I am going to present my strategy.

My stomach tightened. I had never played free safety before. The ball was snapped, and I watched as the tailback widened out to receive the pitch. Never had I felt such an adrenaline rush.

Football has been a big part of my life for as long as I could remember. Ever since I was in 2nd grade football has been my passion. Currently, I stand at 6”8, 260 pounds and I play right tackle for the Fayetteville Bulldogs. Football has shaped me up to the young man I am today and helped me get through the most tragic moment in my life.

I was nine-years old in 1952, and it was on a brisk August Sunday afternoon when my Dad took me to my very first 49ers game at Kezar Stadium for an exhibition contest against the Cardinals, from Chicago. As I remember the weather was overcast and the temperature a cool 60 degrees.

This is probably the most popular and used play in football. This play requires that the running back runs off the outside hip of the tackle.

It was a nice day so I wanted to see if my friends could play, I rode my bike to Alex and Tony’s house. I got to the door and rang the bell.

We left Garberville, CA at 5 a.m. We knew it would be a long haul ahead of us. I slept on the floorboard of the back seat of Holly’s truck for the first couple of hours. Holly was a funny outgoing and straight to the point person. Along with us were my Mom and Dad, Dylan(Holly’s husband) and there two kids Ashley and Clayton. Dylan was a tall red head that is always the life of the party. Ashley was a short dirty blonde girl that loves her horses. And Clayton, clayton was just like his dad a big built red hair with blue eyes and super outgoing. Finally were my parents. My Mom and Dad we both very active outgoing people who got along great with Dylan and Holly and their kids so we knew it was going to be a fun week in Winnemucca. We