“I've played rugby on 1 team for 9 weeks but I've played soccer on 9 different teams for 15 years. I play rugby because in a short period of time I've learned that rugby includes all the aspects of soccer that I love - plus adds some incredible perks that I didn't know my life was lacking.
I have never felt more included for the entirety of who I am, than I have these past 9 weeks playing rugby. Through a body image perspective, being a soccer player is fairly exclusive to leaner athletes. Not only did the soccer teams I play on prefer thinner built athletes, but the mentality of the entire sport is grounded in believing that leaner women are better than different and diversified body types. Taking a step back and realizing that the professional female athletes I've idolized on the USWNT all look the same is discomforting, and this realization has changed the way I've defined my love for sports.
Rugby celebrates differences. And maybe it's like this because different athletic builds are necessary to the game, but I've truly never been apart of a team that has not only encouraged women from all walks of life to play, but has accepted those on the team as crucial elements of our successes.
I play sports to feed my love for competition, to feel fit on and off the field, court or trails, and to represent women across the globe as athletes that can do everything that a man is socially expected to. I'm excited to enrich my athletic drive through the sport of rugby, because rugby just feels right in my bones. As a new player but an old athlete, it's difficult to stay positive when so much of this sport is learned through failure, but nonetheless I will continue to show up with a smile because the game, team, and environment are worth it.”
-Dana Nathanson, UMWRFC Athlete
