Coming at you live from the bus somewhere in Tennessee, just hours after we won the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) championship. There is a cheerful mood on the bus, rightfully so, after winning our SIXTH national title in the last four years.
So, what does it feel like?
At first you can’t believe it, you’ve worked at it for so long, waking up at 6:00 am for morning conditioning, staying up for late practices, and missing out on other activities because you have practice. You’ve spent hours watching film, watching your diet, working out, etc. It all builds up to this one moment, this one game, man or mouse, champ or chump, hero or zero as our coach would say.
But it happened, you did it. You worked as a team, and you came out on top, all the work was worth it. It’s a bit overwhelming at first and many tears were shed. But we did it, and it's still a bit surreal right now.
In a world where participation is awarded, recognition can sometimes seemed watered down. But knowing you are number one, the best, out of the 100 plus teams in the union feels absolutely amazing.
But at the same time I look to my team, my second family and I am so proud of each one of them. It's crazy that before we came to Wayne, not a single girl on the team had played rugby and yet, here we are, six national titles later.
The game we played on Sunday was the longest game of rugby I had ever played. It was cold and rainy. It was the championship game. We felt confident in our game plan going out there, but we never expected it to be handed to us, we knew we were about to go into battle.
A couple days before, our coach made us watch a movie, Hacksaw Ridge. This movie was about a conscientious objector who was a medic in WWII. In the movie the Americans are trying to take Hacksaw ridge in Japan. There is a brutal fight and many people were killed and injured on both sides. After the Americans retreated, the protagonist was still on the ridge and managed to save over seventy people. After he lowered a person down the ridge he would say “Lord, let me get one more.” We made the our mantra going into that game “One more.”
One more try, one more game, one more championship. We went into battle together and we came out successful.
So, that’s what it feels like to be a national champion. I feel so honored that I am able to be a part of a team that not only wins, but has fun doing it. As we got back to campus our coach blared Queen's "We are the Champions" on the bus. As the song says "We'll keep on fighting till the end", and fight we did, and in the end we emerged victorious. I am so thankful that I am able to play the sport I love, and I give the glory to God for all that we have accomplished.
Rugby has made me into the person I am today, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
