This morning I woke up with a swollen knee, a stiff neck and a bruise on my thigh the size of Texas. My body says, "please stop!" but my newfound love of rugby has my gut saying, "bring on the pain!" For the past two days the UL Ladies Rugby team toughed in out through four matches, coming out on top and the Intervarsity Tournament Champions, completely undefeated in the spring season! My body has been tackled, cleated, stepped on and bounced off the ground, but watching my teammates hold up the championship cup makes all the pain worth while. Hearing our coach say she was proud of us was worth all the nights of training on a muddy pitch in the rain. Playing rugby for UL has rekindled my desire for competition, hard work and new experiences, all of which I hope to take back with me to PSU.
Wednesday and Thursdays games showcased how much hard work and effort every single girl put in this season. We won all of our matched by at least 20 points and won the championship 48-0. Our play was the best it has been all season. Everything I've learned throughout the season was clicking and I noticed a serious improvement in my play, my confidence finally starting to build with advice and encouragement from my teammates. I could feel myself hitting harder, carrying the ball longer and having a better mental grasp on the plays and what was going on.
If I end up in State College this summer, which I really hope happens, I think I'm going to drop by a few summer workouts with the Penn State team and see how I do. Hopefully, my Penn State experience will be as amazing and the girls and cool as they were during my time with UL rugby! This really has been my favorite part of my Irish experience so far!!
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