Rugby Research...

Over the past 13 years that I've been involved in coaching or refereeing high school girls rugby in Wisconsin, there have always been recurring questions that come to mind. Some of these questions impact how we grow the sport (i.e. why do girls decide to come out and play rugby? How do players and their families perceive rugby as a sport, and how does that perception impact the growth of the sport?); other questions impact our assessment on the value of rugby as an alternative sport for young women in Wisconsin (i.e. what impact does rugby have on players, both during their years as player and beyond? What value do the players and their families see in playing rugby?).

There are intuitive answers to these questions. There is also a body of scholarship to validate and extend thinking around these same questions. Although these studies are not particular to Wisconsin and/or high school girls, they provide a framework for exploring these questions in the high school and local contexts. Over the next few months (since I happen to have a little time on my hand as the spring season wraps up), I will be summarizing some of the current research on Women's rugby to provide a basis for further reflection on the impact of our own league and, just out of curiosity, to see what's out there.

In the article, The Black Ferns: The Experiences of New Zealand’s Elite Women Rugby Players (full citation at end of blog entry), researchers explored the experiences of women playing on New Zealand's national team, the Black Ferns, by interviewing 23 players during the 1999 tri-nations tournament between New Zealand, Canada and the USA. The researchers utilized a nine question, semi-structured interview, which was centered around seven themes: participation motives, reasons for continuation, experiences participating in a male dominated sport, experiences being a Black Fern, the governing body (NZRFU), sport and life plans, and general background information. Interviews were taped and transcribed and then reviewed by the interviewees for participant verification. Transcripts were coded for themes and sub-themes independently by the lead authors to ensure dependability. The researchers then utilized HyperResarch, a qualitative research software, to assist in analysis of the data.

The article focused on three of the seven themes: (a) reasons for starting to play rugby, (b) reasons for continuing to play rugby, and (c) being part of a predominately male game. (My summary focuses on the first of these three themes, and I will summarize the other themes in subsequent posts). In exploring reasons that players started playing rugby, players indicated the following reasons (listed according to the frequency with which they were heard):

• Their friends played and introduced them to the sport;
  
• They cam from a rugby family;
  
• They enjoyed the physical nature of the game and had a desire to change sports, particularly from netball (a basketball like game played predominately by women);
  
• The liked that rugby was an intelligent sport;
  
• They always liked rugby, but never had an opportunity to play until later in life;
  
• rugby provided an opportunity to travel and meet other people.

In summarizing the implications of these reasons for playing, the authors caution that their findings may not be generalizable to elite athletes in other sports or to rugby players in North America, or other regions where rugby does not have the same culturally significant role, as in New Zealand.

However, may of the motives for beginning to play rugby likely carry-over into the experience of high school girls who chose to play rugby in Wisconsin. Based on informal discussions with players, three themes in particular would likely emerge in the high school context: (1) players begin playing rugby because of peer recruitment (i.e. their friends are playing), (2) players want to try a new, and more physical sport, after years of playing other sports, usually soccer, and (3) players enjoy the opportunity to travel and meet new people (i.e. players like that club rugby usually engages in some form of travel).

An open question for players in American high schools is the amount of exposure that high school female athletes have to rugby prior to starting play. Many players join rugby without ever having seen a rugby match. Thus, it is unlikely that rugby players join rugby because of a well-formed appreciation of rugby as presenting a particular type of challenge or physical activity. Rather, their perception of rugby is likely limited to general concepts (i.e. I know players tackle). A participation study would help to clarify what are the pre-conceived ideas that high school athletes have about rugby and how do those perceptions influence their decision to play. Thus, it would be important to replicate the participation study with particular emphasis on exploring young players perceptions of and knowledge about rugby as an added dimension.

In posting these summaries, I hope to solicit feedback from readers to identify important themes for research and, if there is interest, identify potential collaborators for conducting further research.

CITATION: Chu, Michael M. L., Leberman, Sarah I, Howe, Bruec L., and Bachor, Dan G. (2003). The Black Ferns: The Experiences of New Zealand’s Elite Women Rugby Players. Journal of Sport Behavior, Vol. 2 (No. 2): pp. 109-120.