October 5, 2018

Hey guys! It’s Connor here and this week on My Rec Life, Alex, Ambesia, Nate, and I went to rugby practice at the Vidas Athletic Complex. Walking up to rugby practice, I was honestly a bit nervous because I had zero exposure to the sport and never had the opportunity to get involved. I didn’t know any rules or even what the ball was supposed to look like.

For those of you like me who don’t know much about rugby, it’s a contact sport that’s largely European. It consists of running with a ball and trying to get it to an “in-goal” area at either end of the field. It’s sort of like a more violent version of football. Drexel has two club teams, a men's team and a women's team, and we got to practice with each.

I was expecting the team to be made of up big and scary people, but when I got there everyone was so kind and welcoming. The Rugby teams had us tackling each other, tossing the balls back and forth, and enjoying ourselves within ten minutes of being there. I felt like a pro by the end of the day!

The men's team showed us all the basics of throwing the ball and some tackling drills, while at the women's practice, we learned punting (a type of kick) and lineouts (a position to gain repossession of the ball).

Learning to throw the ball went against every other way I’ve thrown a ball in any of my past sports experiences and was a lot more difficult than expected, especially for the distances they’re thrown for. You almost have to turn your body with it to launch from your core, and it’s thrown with your hands under the ball guiding it backward, rather than overhand and forward like in football.

We had a blast during this episode and each of us has a new-found love for Rugby! Who knows, maybe someday you’ll see one of us down on the field. Stay tuned for more fun and excitement from the Blog Squad next week on My Rec Life.