I started playing rugby this year as my school - which I'm not out at - finally got a "girls'" rugby team. There's also a bunch of us who go and train with the Ladies' team in the town now, but under 18's aren't allowed to do any contact with them or play in their games, for insurance reasons. When I'm not totally getting wound up about the whole attitude coaches have about "women's" rugby, (constantly pointing out that we're "girls" and never just calling it 'rugby', but always "girls/ladies rugby"), I really enjoy it, and it's started to sting a lot that I'll never get to play in a match with a team outside of my school, which I'll be leaving at the end of this academic year.
I'm assuming that as soon as gender markers get changed, playing for a "women's" rugby team is out of the question, and as soon as I get onto T it'll also be impossible as I'd have an advantage over everyone else. But also looking at the team, maybe it's just the type of people that rugby attracts, there were a handful of them, who I'm extremely jealous of their bodies, and can't help but wonder if they're maybe trans* too. One of them the only reason that stops me thinking is MAAB is the lack of an Adam's apple (they're the sort of person you just sort of know would have a very prominent one if it was there), and the other has a very typical male haircut for around here and deep voice. Not that I'd ever assume anything about them though, most of it's just jealousy that they would pass so well if they wished to.
They made me wonder though, whether it would be possible to not have to quit rugby in two years time, never getting to play a match, or whether it is totally impossible like I thought before. Obviously playing "men's" rugby is just asking for death... I'm sure a lot of the forwards on the "women's" team could put me in a wheelchair without much difficulty.
So do any of you play competitive sports/wish you could? If you did in the past, at what point did you have to stop?