BY HANNAH PURKEY

Online | Published March 18, 2011

I originally joined rugby because I liked the challenge. Sure, I can play sports that I have been trained in since I was too young to know any better. But picking up an entirely new sport in my last semester of college? Now that’s something, if I could pull it off, that would be worth bragging about. Over the last few weeks, I have also gained a greater appreciating for the sport of rugby itself, as the realization of how big of a challenge I accepted has sunk in. You have to respect a sport that demands so much athleticism and skill in the midst of what appears to be pure chaos.

But even if you love a sport and are highly motivated to succeed, there are plenty of days when you just don’t feel like going to practice. Especially here at Swat when every student-athlete has ten other commitments that all seem to meet at the same time, it is easy to start to question the time demands of being an athlete.

You’d think that these would be the worst moments for athletes, but they are actually one of my favorites. The obligation may be the only thing that gets you to the field, but there is always a moment at a practice when you at your worst and a teammate reminds you why it is all worth it. They almost never mean to, but a comment, a gaffe, or even occasionally a dance will make you laugh and remind you that you are not just there because you like to play but because of the women or men sitting next to you. A big part of sports is being part of something that is bigger than your bad day. It may sound cliché, but even the game is the only the thing that brought you together, your teammates are the reason you stick with it through the good and bad.

At Swarthmore this is especially true. This is a school that often makes me think I have been transported into an episode of The Big Bang Theory because of the absolute brilliance and uniqueness of each Swat student. When you take the quirky personalities that populate Swat’s campus and you let them loose together on an athletic field, it really is something special. Where else can you find an athletic team that will unanimously agree that being up at 4 AM watching TV is completely understandable if that’s the only time the BBC has reruns of classic Doctor Who episodes?

I may have joined rugby to prove something to myself or perhaps because I’m in a bit of denial that my varsity athletic career is over, but after getting to know this team, I can’t imagine any other reason to stay than to count myself as part of this crazy group of Swatties. Whether it is because they can become sincerely happy over a pair of colorful socks with dancing seafood on them, rewrite Ke$ha songs to make them about rugby, or simply because they find doing the chicken dance really slowly to be a fun way to start practice, these girls have definitely making my rugby experience worthwhile.

This quirkiness is why I never understand when people tell me that some Swatties make fun of our athletics here. We might not be in the Final Four or even make it to the playoffs, but that doesn’t make our experiences here any less worthwhile. In fact, I think it makes our participation even more impressive. We play because we love it and we love the relationships we build through athletics. It doesn’t mean we study any less or are any less qualified to be at this academically challenging school. So do me a favor; don’t make fun of Swat athletics until you have the chutzpa to come out and try it for yourself. You never know, you might just discover why millions of people across the globe participate in sports every day.

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