Getting Into Touch With Rugby

The OBs steadfast coach, Aimee Kelly, has been playing rugby since she was a teenager, but moved into full-time coaching in 2013 when she was pregnant with her son. Like Nina, she found a refreshing sense of body acceptance in rugby that was important to her confidence as a teenage girl. “I did ballet from when I was really tiny until the age of about 15. I got to the point where I was considering pursuing it professionally, but my ballet teacher told me I was too muscular. I thought, ‘Well, stuff you!’ so I quit, and joined rugby. My mum played in a local team so I just joined in and never really stopped.” The OBs currently play in a development league, where the rules have been slightly adapted to cater for new joiners or players who are making their way down from top-flight rugby. “Recently, lots of new leagues have been created by England Rugby and I think that’s given women who want to try the sport a lot more variety,” explains Aimee. “If you want to push up to the Premier League you can, but there are also social teams like us where the focus is about enjoying it rather than pressure to win.”

Sophia is a mother of two and a legal advocate by day. With her empathy and positivity, she’s a natural leader for the OBs. So what else makes her a great team captain? “I still ask myself the question all the time to be honest,” she laughs. “I think it takes someone who’s able to see each player individually, who can see their strengths and encourage them, or hear their concerns and help them through it. You’re the glue and it’s your job to make sure everyone’s head stays in the game at training or during a match.” Spend five minutes with the squad and it’s clear that there’s a strong sense of camaraderie between the players. During lockdown, they replaced their midweek training with fitness challenges, quizzes and a boozy end-of-season Zoom. Even skills training can get silly: “I’ll make them pass water balloons without popping them. Or they’ll bring a piece of fruit to training and do a bear crawl with it balancing on their backs, to work on their body positioning,” says Aimee. “It’s a bit of fun but it gets the point across. When you’re on the field, you’re putting your body on the line, so you have to have a sense of trust and community with the rest of the team for it to work.”

Muddy matches can be fun too: “There was one game where people were getting tackled into bogs left, right and centre,” laughs Sophia. “I had to go in the second row, where you basically get your head squidged between people’s legs. I came out with my entire face covered in mud. We ended that match by sliding off the pitch.” The OBs try to build a reassuring atmosphere in their training sessions because they know how daunting it can be to put yourself out there on the pitch the first time. “My go-to thing is that in rugby, you don’t make a mistake – you just learn,” says Aimee. “Everybody drops the ball forward and it’s no drama.” The season is coming to an end just as the weather is picking up, but even in the worst conditions, they’ll still show up for each other. “I’m the guy that’s always there at training,” laughs Aimee. “You’ve got a sense of duty. Plus, when it’s raining and freezing cold, it makes that lovely, warm bath at the end of it even better.”