Rugby Jargon

The story of my failure in my first year of rugby. I wrote this for my English 101 class as a literacy narrative. I addressed the topic of sports literacy.

8:36 AM

There is a slight fog hovering over the campus of Cal State Fullerton. The sky is grey and I am sitting in the back of my mother’s blue 2005 Ford Expedition. My right leg is hanging out of the open trunk and resting on my mother’s knee. She is knelt down and tapping my swollen discolored right ankle. She spent all night researching ways to tape ankles to make sure I wouldn't get hurt during my match today. My face was blank while she tried to make small talk about my game that afternoon. I was trying to remember everything I learned on Tuesday and Thursday. This was my first season playing rugby and all season I played, and excelled in the forward pack as a lock. Forwards are the hard workers on the field but I also led the team in scoring so I was very confident in my ability to play in the pack. On Tuesday my coach approached me and told me, “Chris, so with Spencer’s injury we’re going to have to move people around and I think we’re going to need you in the backline. Do you think you can do that?” I was surprised that he chose me, a first year player with very little literacy of how to play from the backs or even of the game itself. “If you show me what to do I will give 100% while I’m on the field.” I didn’t want to say that I’ll be the best player on the field because I knew that it would be a huge change for me to go play with them. Now 30 new plays are running through my 14 year old brain and I couldn't remember every one of them exactly. I needed to know where to be and what lines to run on offense, as well as know exactly where to line up on the defensive side of the ball. It was very difficult for me to understand the way my coach wanted the team to play from this whole new perspective.

10:45 AM

The whole team had finally arrived and it was time for us to check in with the administration of the Southern California Youth Rugby organization. My legs wouldn't stop moving and I felt this incurable ache in my stomach and the need to leave. My hands kept gripping air and releasing it, I lost control of my appendages and my mind faded off into oblivion thinking of the pain I would feel if I let my team down. I was snapped back into reality when my captain Liam approached me, “You ready to score some tries Chris?!” I wanted to run all the way back to my bed in Huntington Beach right at that moment. Somehow even more weight was put onto my shoulders. My whole team expected me to score 3 or 4 times in this game and lead them to winning the Championship. I lied to him, “When am I not man?” He gave me a high five and walked off to talk to all the other players. 

I told my friend Johnny that I needed help remembering the plays so we went off on our own for 30 minutes. His mom gave us a small white board, a marker, and two crustless peanut butter-jelly sandwiches. I took one bite of the sandwich and I wanted to throw it all back up. The sandwich itself was delicious but the nerves that had settled into my body told me to expel all food from my stomach. Johnny started to draw X’s and O’s on the white board, I understood the places they started in. The left wing, me, deep behind the forward pack then the fly half, both centers, and right wing in a staggered line to the right with the fullback deep behind them in the center of the field.  He then moved onto showing me where they go. The multiple lines made it hard for me to follow which one I was. Jonny showed me each play twice, one from each side of the field. For some odd reason I thought I comprehended what he painted on the white board. Once we had finished he looked me in the eyes and said “You’ll do great Chris don't worry” He patted me on the shoulder and walked away. I smiled and as I turned to follow all the information that I had just relearned flew out of my brain like birds when they hear gun shots. The only play I could remember was when Johnny faked a switch with the inside-center and I would fill into where the center used to be, hopefully putting me through a gap and into space. I looked into the stands, I saw a huge sign that read “BACK BAY vs SANTA CLARITA” and saw my family getting seated. For the first time ever I saw my older brother, sister, and my uncle at my game. More pressure was put on me. I force fed myself another bite of the sandwich and ran off to meet up with my team.

11:50 AM

We began team warm-ups and the running helped me loosen my nerves. We started with passing and that made me feel good. My pass was pretty decent and I didn't drop any balls. Then we we split up into forwards and backs. Like muscle memory I went with the forwards, I stood there for 2 minutes and then my coach noticed me. “Chris….” He waited for me to realize that I had been in the wrong spot. “What?” My face had this stupid look then I had an epiphany, “OOOhhh” and I ran off to my new home with the backs. Like I said before I felt good after the team passing, not after back line passing though. I dropped 6 balls and ran the complete wrong lines. My team yelled at me and that made me even more nervous. The backs coach pulled me aside “Hey don't worry once you get your first hit in you'll be fine okay?” I believed him “Okay.” After that my nerves were a little settled so I could catch some balls again but I still didn't know where to run. 

12:30 PM

The game kicked off. I made a few tackles and I felt better. Everything was going fine in fact we were doing great, I found myself again without control of my appendages. However this time I wasn't shaking with nerves, I was running a play that Johnny had showed me. I ran from the left sideline all the way to in-between my friend Sammy, the outside-center, and my friend Nick who was the other wing. The ball was passed out to Johnny who threw it past the inside-center and into the hands of the outside-center. He took three steps up the field and gave a small pass to me where I then took it up the field at full pace. I was tackled and on the next phase of play we scored. At half time we were tied at 10-10 both teams scored twice and missed both kicks. The second half was a complete different story. They had noticed that I could easily break their defensive line if I was in the right position so the brought in a new kid. A bit slower than me but a lot bigger. Not only did he stop any offensive advancement I attempted but he had exploited my little understanding of the game and had scored 3 times while I was marked up on him. With 5 minutes left we were down 25-10, if we wanted to win we would have to score three times. Once was already a big thing to ask. Their defense in the second half was phenomenal. We couldn't find any gaps to run at. Not only that but I hadn’t gotten the ball since what seemed like the dark ages. 

Somehow we got inside of 22 meters to the goal line and we kept giving everything we had. We sent all of our big runners at their line but they kept making sure tackles and big hits. Johnny had gotten the ball and ran past one of their tired defenders. They wrapped him up and he began to go down to the ground. As he went down I saw a big gap open up and I screamed his name with all the air I had inside of my body to try and get his attention. He passed the ball and I put it down in the corner. Our families went insane with joy but it was too little too late. 57 seconds left and we were down 25-17. I ran off to get reset for the kickoff and I heard someone calling my name from the sideline. My coach was pulling me out. My game was over and we lost.

1:43 PM

I sat and watched as Santa Clarita lifted the trophy with joy. 

1:50 PM

Back behind the field all my team mates and I sat in silence. I kept my chin touching my chest. Silent tears ran down my rosy cheeks. I put my face in my hands and envisioned every game of my first season. Some images were burned into my mind. My first try, my first tackle, my first win, this game… but of all of those one thing stood out. The sidelines of every game was crowded and I saw many faces but of all those faces a ray of love stood out. My mother. Wherever and whenever a game was I could count on seeing her smile while I play. During games many sounds get caught in my ears. The smack of someone’s shoulder hitting another’s stomach and consequently the air leaving that persons lungs, the stomping of my team mates cleats cutting into the ground like a knife threw butter, and endless calls being made by both teams. With all this going on my mother’s voice still swims thew to my ear. “COME ON NAPS!” was the most common thing I heard from her, that and “LET’S GO BAY!” Rugby gave me many things; a group of people to identify with, an ability to communicate, maturity, respect for others, and above all appreciation and love for my Mom.