Dixon gains a new sports team

Posted by ivy dunn on Feb 3, 2012 in Telegram Past News

Girls aren’t usually known for doing the more rigorous sports like football or rugby. This year, however,  Dixon has added something that might change some girls’ lives in Dixon. Girl’s rugby has officially been made available for high school females.

Rugby is not considered a “school sport”. It is run by the city of Dixon, not Dixon High School. For this reason, girls rugby may not get as much attention as the sports that are run by the school. The rugby team is still known as the “Dixon” team, just not through DHS.

This is the first year that girls rugby has been offered in Dixon. Our boys rugby team has been organized for the past few years. The boys rugby team has done very well in the past. They have traveled to multiple cities and countries, like Canada. It is possible that a girls rugby team was created because the recent success of the boys team.

What is rugby, really? It developed from a type of football played at rugby school. Though the course of the next few decades and centuries, it became very popular.

Even though rugby and football are somewhat similar, they also have many differences. Rugby does not have as much protective gear and padding as football does, even though it is very physical. Rugby also has a ball similar to football, but it is significantly larger so that is is easier to “toss” to teammates. In rugby, it is against the rules to tackle any player without the ball. In football, it is legal to tackle any other team’s players out on the field. The duration of the game is also different between these two sports.

Twila Anderson is a current Sophomore at DHS. She is one of the girls who is on the rugby team this year. “I’m really excited to be on the first ever Dixon girl’s rugby team,” said Anderson. “It’s part of Dixon history now!” The girls team practices twice a week, one on Monday and one on Wednesday, each from 3:45-5. This is not a lot of practices compared to many school sports teams who practice almost every day. Twila says that she expects to learn a lot and she already thinks that the team has improved a lot. “I’m happy that I decided to play rugby,” she said. She thinks that it is extremely fun and a great way to exercise. One reason that Twila plays girls rugby is because one of her best friends, Hannah Arnold, is on the team with her. Having a friend on the team makes the experience better for her. “I’m hopefully going to continue to play for a few more years,” she says.

Overall, girls rugby is a great addition to the city of Dixon. Our girls are very athletic and talented, and they will show different cities what Dixon is capable of. Hopefully the girls will have a successful season this year, and for many years that follow.

Photo provided by Kaylee Mustard