Women's rugby star Ruby Tui visits St Joseph's Maori Women's College.Photo/Warren Buckland
opinion
In my rugby career I reached three club finals before being allowed to play for one club.I stood on the sidelines making sure the coach didn't miss his chance.
It may take a few minutes. My younger self hated it. He laments that he never had a chance to influence the outcome.
But years later, when I finally made my first play, I realized how much that moment had taught me. I could see the hands of all the coaches there helping me lift the trophy.
As a teenager, I found a sport that suited my physiology, temperament, and natural abilities. I was hooked and all I learned was learning the tactics and techniques of the game. It took until my early twenties for this learning to move from the game itself to its influence on the game. That's when I became not just a rugby player, but a rugby player in the truest sense of the word. As the life cycle of rugby continued, I fell in love with the game again. My current position is to serve the next generation.
The time it took me to get to this point was greatly influenced by the people around me. Thanks to the coaches who rotated me through positions, the seniors who helped me draw water, and the guys I compete with. To get the starting jersey, you had to win it off someone's back. I learned to observe, analyze, and understand my place in the game and, perhaps more importantly, in the team. I learned how to show the value I can add to increase my time. It slowly increases with each match.
At the time, as a member of the team, I didn't appreciate it, but now I realize what a gift it was. A time when I was allowed to be completely selfish, only caring about my own performance. There was depth to help develop strong shoulders before carrying any real weight. The name of the champion I proudly call my mother in-game.
We are now worried that we are robbing many young athletes of their sporting youth as we see selection being carried out beyond professional sports regulations. The establishment of a new competition means more starting points than the game previously invested. Young talent is being asked to burst through the development pipeline to fill that gap. It will be sprayed on black jerseys soon as well.
Of course, as time goes on, it is expected that the apprenticeship will become shorter as the season progresses. Once, it took a player more than 10 years to play 50 first-class games. Until 2021, the three-Test Rory O'Reilly Series was the only guaranteed Test rugby for the Black Ferns. It is now complemented by the Pacific Four series and WXV. As early starts become more normalized, the sports IQ of young athletes is also increasing. Although the amount of time required to learn rugby has decreased, it is still necessary to learn yourself.
However, young people are attracted to sports. They are seen as vessels of infinite potential. They represent a clean slate rather than the messy history of older performing groups. When this phrase is first uttered, it's easy to believe it's a good start. They do not yet know what questions their experience will raise. Their rugby moms are also younger now. They are just on the verge of transitioning from rugby to themselves and have not yet reached the final stage of selfless seniority.
We have yet to learn how to make space within the system for each part of the rugby lifecycle. This is so that talented people can emerge and develop the next generation. If we fail to sustain, this will put a strain on this emerging group of talent. We ask them to learn publicly what we once learned from the sidelines.
