U-20 Women's National Team Elite Camp – Whitney Wayland

Whitney Wayland from the University of Oklahoma was asked to attend the U-20 Women’s National Team Elite Camp in Cocoa Beach, FL the weekend February 28 – March 2, 2008. Here is her guest blog about the event:

Try Out Report

So my tryouts(for those of you who don’t know) went well. The camp was held February 28-March 2 in Cocoa Beach Florida at the Cocoa Beach Expo Center. The coaches(who never lie, at least not to us) told us that the level of experience at the camp was higher than at any other camp and that they’ve never had so many talented athletes in one camp before. They said no one was there that shouldn’t be and we were all playing on the same level.

I won’t know anything about the camp until after Easter, but I accomplished what I went there for: I learned so much. I learned counter rucks, different passes, new plays and how to be a better all around player. We went to the beach on Saturday night, rather than have practice, and it was beautiful. I have never been to the ocean before and it felt good, until the salt water washed into my grass burns on my legs. I got a wonderful tan, with a slight sunburn, made new friends and a hyper extended elbow to add to my hyper extended knee(acquired the Sunday before while playing booger).

A prop figured I was having trouble tackling a back(just because when I touched her I didn’t knock her backwards) and decided to plow us both over, even though she was on my team. Her shoulder hit my elbow and bent my arm backwards. Needless to say, its really, really sore. I have bruises, dirty laundry, a sense of pride and a better understanding about Rugby after this weekend. We practiced almost 10 hours a day, with three practices a day. Up at 7 and down at 11. That’s a lot of rugby we had to cram into 4 days.

On another note, the weather back at home(Oklahoma) apparently didn’t get Florida’s weather’s memo(so nice and pleasant in Florida) and was storming with tornadoes, both warnings and watches. Instead of 5 hours in the air, I spent 8. I can barely stand a car ride to the city, which is only an hour away from home. I was about to die. I had a lot of opportunity to study for my midterms(two on Monday), and very little to sleep. It’s nice being in Oklahoma but I can’t wait to go on another rugby trip or to take the hour long drive back home.

Thanks Whitney for your update, I always enjoy peeking into to others rugby experiences…if you want to share your rugby experiences, email me.