I spent this past summer in Cambridge, England, with the UNH English department's Cambridge Summer Program. Without a doubt one of the best summers of my life, for a multitude of reasons, the program also provided me with the opportunity to gain more experience as a reporter.
I took Sue Hertz's travel writing class, in which I learned the art of advance non-fiction. As a journalism student, however, I kept searching for ways to merge my travel writing with news writing as well.
For my final paper, I wrote about the Cambridge University Women's Rugby Team, an under appreciated group of women who dominate at the sport, and put the men's team to shame.
For the piece, I was able to get in contact with one of the team's head trainers, the team captain, and team president for interviews. Although awkward at first, the interview process taught me a valuable lesson:
No matter where in the world you go, interviewing is easy, because people love to talk about themselves! As an interviewer, I find that I talk substantially less than the people I interview.
Although an amateur attempt at reporting, and still a fairly rough version, the following is my piece on the women's rugby team that I wrote this summer.
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Time for Great Britain’s Title IX
Rachel Follender
Not even a week into my stay in Cambridge, I discovered the Kelsey Kerridge Sports Center. For sixty pounds for six weeks, I had access to free weights, machines, and a wide range of cardio machines that overlook one of the city’s green expanses, Parker’s Piece. My membership came with free personal training at my disposal, use of a hot-tub on an outside deck, and a sauna. It’s the trainers however that I came to appreciate the most. In the last five weeks I mastered some of the most strenuous and muscle-ripping full body work outs. I’ve worked with personal trainers in the past, yet saw no real results, and the reason for that came as quite a surprise.
One day, Neil, the trainer I was working with, commented on my strength. This comment caught be surprise, because I’ve never though of myself as strong. “The workouts I give to you,” he said, “I don’t even teach in my classes. You’d be surprised, I haven’t seen many other women able to go through the workouts you do.” I looked around the gym and noticed there weren’t any other women there. I tried to think if I had ever seen a woman working out in Kelsey Kerridge, and other than the occasional middle-aged women who would walk on a treadmill for 15 minutes then leave, none came to mind.
Without thinking, I blurted out my next question and realized after how stupid it sounded: “Do women in England not exercise?”
“Not really,” he responded. “They think it’s unattractive. They don’t want to look muscular. They think it’s manly.” Come to think of it, I hadn’t even seen female runners in Cambridge, only men. I couldn’t wrap my head around this. Surely, that couldn’t be entirely true. After all, Cambridge University has multiple women’s sports teams. What about them? I needed to talk to Ramin.
Ramin Pirzard is one of the older trainers at Kelsey Kerridge, and he is infamous among the people in the sports center. He has been training the Cambridge University Rugby teams for the last five years, and I’ve been told that his sessions are intense, leaving you unable to navigate stairs for a day or two afterwards. A week later, I finally succeeded in hunting him down. Expecting to learn nothing more than the day in the life of an athletic trainer, my conversation with Ramin sent me on a quest to discover the truth about Cambridge’s secret woman-warriors.
England’s prestigious Cambridge University consists of 31 colleges, and 19,962 students in total. Twenty-two of these students belong to the Cambridge University women’s rugby team, and are found on the Blue roster, or what American’s typically refer to as “varsity.” Coming to Cambridge from the United States, I traded in my notions of American football and hockey for rowing and cricket. However, when thinking about British athletes, rugby tends to be the one sport everyone overlooks. And when it comes to Cambridge University, the women on the rugby team put the boys to shame.
Ramin has trained both the men’s and the women’s rugby teams at Cambridge University, although more exclusively with the women’s team. “The women are much more dedicated, much harder workers,” he said. Ramin explained that with more determination than the players on the mens team, the female players try harder during the training sessions and therefore gain the most out of Ramin’s workouts. “They train with me two to three times a week during the season. We work on strength and conditioning and skills.” Even though the women’s team trains hard and plays hard, they still lack in support and popularity when compared to the men’s team. “The problem is the fans,” Ramin explained. “There just isn’t as big a fan-base for women’s rugby.”
Walking back from the gym through Parker’s Piece, the conversation with Ramin started to gnaw at me. If the Cambridge University women’s rugby team really does lack in support when compared to the men’s team, is this really only due to fans not being as interested, or is there another piece to the puzzle?
I made my way back to the Goville and Caius campus and began researching. After Googling Cambridge University Rugby, the first link I clicked on took me to a professionally designed website titled “CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY RUGBY UNION FOOTBALL CLUB.” Fully equipped with a news scroll, headlines, and professional pictures, it was apparent right away that the page was specifically for the men’s team. A column on the left-hand side of the page displays twelve links offering an abundance of information about the team. The 6th link, titled “RUGBY & FIXTURES,” opens up another sub-column of five more links. The fourth link down reads “WOMEN-CUWRFC.” It is the only link on the website that opens up a new webpage on your computer.
The web page, although less elaborate than the previous website, displays a slide show of team photographs that look like they belong in a yearbook rather than a magazine. It gives the viewer a sense of teamwork and community that the men’s website doesn’t. Above the slideshow, in big blue letters, there is a list of the team’s victories in the last four years: first place in the BUCS Midlands, first place in the RFUW Championship, double victory in the Varsity Match and BUCS semifinalists. Curious as to how these titles compared to the ones the men’s team carry, I contacted team captain Sammy Graham.
About to enter her final year at Cambridge University’s Jesus College, Sammy has spent her entire college career playing for the Blue’s division of the women’s rugby team, and will continue next year as captain. During the season, Sammy and the other women on the team dedicate almost all of their time to Rugby. They attend practice five days a week, and have matches twice a week with weight training sessions afterwards. In the most recent season, the team won all but one match. “On Wednesdays we play other universities, and on Sundays we play local ladies’ rugby teams,” she explained. The ladies teams consist of local women’s rugby clubs.
Listening to Sammy talk about the sheer dedication and hard work the members of her team put in during a season was inspiring, but it made the reasons for there being a lack of support for the team more confusing. “From what I hear, you are much better than the men’s team,” I said. “Is this true?”
She hesitated for a moment before responding, “Well, the men’s team only cares about the varsity match. They’re a good team, but that’s their only aim,” she said. Sammy explained how in addition to the matches against other universities and local clubs, both the men’s and women’s rugby teams compete in five varsity matches a year. A varsity match win is the most prestigious victory in college rugby, and the one which players are most determined to win. “We end up winning varsity more because we give each match leading up to it our all, so we end up being more prepared,”
The Cambridge University men’s rugby team plays at Twickenham Stadium every year – a Middlesex venue that holds approximately 82,000 people. Originally costing over 5,500 British pounds in 1907, it includes the World Rugby Museum and a rugby store. It is the largest rugby stadium in the world and the Cambridge men’s team usually brings in about 40,000 spectators every December for the televised varsity series. Performers such as U2 and Bon Jovi have also performed in this venue, but unless you’re Lady GaGa, if you’re female, you will find that there isn’t much of a place for you in the stadium, other than the stands. The reason behind this is not new, and although it comes as no surprise, it’s hard not to feel incensed at something quite so unfair.
As with most women’s sports, the fan-base for women’s rugby just isn’t as big as the men’s. Advertising and promotion of women’s athletics dwindles in comparison to men’s athletics, and general demographics do not work in favor of women’s sports. Statistics show more than 70% of female television audiences would rather watch an alternative programming to sports, and the vast majority of male viewers only watch men’s sports coverage. Unfortunately, the Cambridge University women’s rugby team is no exception. On average, the team brings in less than half the audience the men’s team does during a season, and as a result, the team brings in less money from a fan-base. Because of this, they lack in both public sponsors and funding from the University of Cambridge. This in turn feeds into a vicious cycle. With no community support, there is no financial support, and with no financial support, there is no publicity or ability to draw in would-be supporters.
Nevertheless, change is coming. This past April, the women’s rugby team gained a new president who is working effortlessly to get the team the recognition they deserve. Fiona Gillanders, whom I spoke with shortly after my conversation with Sammy, runs the club behind the scenes, and is responsible for overseeing all financial and managerial aspects. Sammy spoke highly of Fiona’s efforts, and was hopeful of the positive changes she would bring.
Fiona was optimistic about the direction the team was heading in. “We’ve dropped our previous sponsors and gained new ones,” she told me. One of their newest and most appreciated sponsors, is Friends of Cambridge, an organization of wealthy alumni who support the women’s rugby team – some of whom actually played during their heyday at Cambridge University. Being that Cambridge is a private university, there is much more funding for the men’s team from the actual school. The local sponsors therefore represent 70% of the teams’ funds, making their support much more critical. With better sponsors, the attitude of the school is changing as well.
Fiona explained to me how in the previous years, the president and managers of the men’s rugby team have shown little to no support for the women’s team. Although both teams are 100% affiliated with Cambridge University, the men’s team has been weary of the women’s team stealing their thunder. But more recently, this is changing as well, due to Fiona’s hard work. She spoke highly of the current management of the men’s club, stating that, “There has been a lot of support from certain people.” Other than the financial aspect, Fiona has a fairly simple goal: spread the word. “The ultimate goal is more publicity, and not letting the women’s team become a side-club to the men’s. There needs to be more promotion; it’s quite simple. This is a very good team that has dedicated a lot of time and energy to their pursuits.
Both Fiona and Sammy invited me to come to the team’s opening practices in September and meet the other players. I regrettably had to decline, as I will be back in the United States by the end of August. However, I decided to help them out in what little way I could before I left Cambridge.
The week after my conversation with Sammy, I made my way to the local athletic stores on a warm afternoon. First, I walked into Up And Running, a shoe store that specializes in fitting customers to the perfect sneaker. The three employees working that day were all men.
“Do you ever get any university athletes in here?” I asked them.
“Yes, quite a bit actually,” the tallest one responded. “We do personalized shoe fitting and sell shoes for sports other than running, so they come here to get custom fitted.”
“Any rugby players?”
“A few have come in here.” The question launched the three of them into a conversation about the men’s rugby team, and the infamous varsity games at Twickenham.
“What about the women’s rugby team?” I asked.
“I wasn’t even aware there was one.”
“You should check them out. They’re actually much better than the men’s team,” I replied, leaving them in a state of shock before I slipped out.
I then made my way to Sweaty Betty, an athletic store that specializes in high-end gear for women. The cashier was a petite women from Canada, who had little to no knowledge of Cambridge University sports. After going on a five minute tangent about the women’s rugby team, how good they were, and the lack of support in return, she reached under the counter and handed me a piece of paper. “We organize a running club that meets once a week. It’s all about promoting physical fitness for women in Cambridge. You should come! And I’ll spread the word about the rugby team; they’d be interested in that.”
My faith in the Cambridge community had been restored. It wasn’t that people didn’t care, it was just that they were unaware. With Fiona Gillanders as the new team president, Sammy Graham as captain, and the continuation of the hard work and dedication of the Cambridge University women’s rugby team, that unawareness is bound to change in the near future. “One thing I want to do as captain this year is make the team friendlier and more welcoming for all girls,” Sammy told me. The team’s values are not about winning varsity and gaining titles, but rather leadership, teamwork, and respect. The outcome of these values has earned them numerous victories, which in turn will earn them the support and recognition they deserve.
The underlying issues of women’s rugby at Cambridge University is a trending theme throughout the UK, and Britain needs to step its game up. According to the Women’s Sports Foundation and Sport England, 40% of girls give up athletics before they turn eighteen. The amount of men between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four who participate in sports is twice the number of women in the same age group, and half of the female population in the UK don’t even exercise on their own. In addition, 74% of UK sports committee board members are men, and only 5% of all UK media sports coverage is of female sports and athletics.
This summer, London hosts the 2012 Olympics, and with that there seems to be a greater awareness for women athletes in the UK. So far, Great Britain’s female Olympians have won ten gold medals, outranking France, Spain and Australia. Women’s football brought in a new record number of viewers this year and with over 80,000 in attendance at the final, the event how holds the new record for number of spectators at a women’s match in europe. This is attracting a substantial amount of media attention, bringing more hype to the ladies who excel in sports.
This year’s Olympics also marks the United States’ 40th anniversary of Title IX, the 1972 law mandating that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under an education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” These thirty-seven words have had a drastic revolutionary impact on millions of young women. Before Title IX, one in twenty-seven high school girls participated in organized sports. That number has since risen to five in twenty-seven. The percentage of women who continue to be athletic after high school is increasing every year as well.
Great Britain has it’s own equality laws generally outlying discrimination against age, sex, disability, race or religion in any environment. “The Equality Act sets out the different ways in which it is unlawful to treat someone, such as direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, victimization and failing to make a reasonable adjustment for a disabled person.” The act was revised in 2010, but has no specific guidelines for women athletes. The only place that the Equality Act mentions anything about funding, is in the workplace.
It’s time that Great Britain adopt a similar attitude when it comes to women in sports. “We are working hard for equality. It’s quite slow, but change is coming soon. We have to be hopeful,” Sammy insisted. It’s time for the Cambridge University women’s rugby team to shine.
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