It wasn’t a happy 2020 for him Argentinian rugby, a sport that despite having achieved a true milestone in its history How was the victory of the men’s team against the powerful All BlackYes, it was at the center of the controversy for other reasons.
In the first place, by the news, a little over a year ago, of the fatal beating of Fernando Báez Sosa by a group of rugby players and, secondly, by the “revelation” last November of disastrous old tweets -among misogynists, classists and racists- of various members of the Pumas.
Yamila Otero walks the field with Sofía González.
And in the middle of the trials, debates, accusations and silences, a group of girls kept doing their thing. What is it play, at least that’s how they repeat it when consulted on many of those harsh and difficult subjects.
“I believe that we are part of a cultural change that has been going on for years and that it is not only prior to this moment, but also, much larger. Today women are considered differently in society, and in rugby as well. Of course enough for the ‘definitive change’, but we all know that it is ant work. And that involves men and women equally ”, sentence Yamila Otero (29), pioneer of women’s rugby in our country since he began to play around the beginning of the new millennium, when he was just 12 years old.
The current captain of the national team, Gimena Mattus from Rioja.
White lies
Enter here disbelief and deception. This is how rugby appeared -and appears- for many of these girls, today well established players of this sport that continues to garner almost a unanimous reaction in the others: “What? Women who play rugby? Does that exist?”
And yes, it exists, although its visibility is diffuse (another of the great challenges that the UAR has ahead) and the stories of its protagonists are full of setbacks, prejudices, white lies and misunderstandings.
“For a long time I hid from my mom he was training with the rugby boys. She was convinced that I continued to play volleyball in my usual club, GEI (from Ituzangó), but in reality I had started to get together with a semi-mixed group (there were very few girls) to play Seven ”, she says today Sofía González (25), member of the national team.
Yamila contributes: “I started in the club Don Bosco de Quilmes and she was the only girl in an all-male group. At the coach’s suggestion, all that stage I played with the protective cap on so everyone took me as one more player. It was a good ‘solution’ first because I I did not think to cut my hair and second because I did not want no one made differences with me“, emphasizes and adds:
“In competitions, many rivals found out that they had played against a girl only at the end of the game, when he took off the cap. And there everything was generated: surprise yes, but also a certain anger and disbelief.”
Gimena Mattus She is 23 years old and hails from Chilecito, La Rioja. He started playing at 14 in Nevado, the only rugby club in the entire department and which, due to its location, on a deep slope in the mountains, is known as “the hole”.
“I remember it flooded all the time and being just a dirt court, we passed from constant dust to deep mud“, account. Today Gimena is the captain of the national team, which for now only participates in tournaments (such as the recent South American Montevideo, where he finished fifth) of Seven mode, with seven players on the court.
According to the UAR, there are already more than 6 thousand women who practice rugby in Argentina.
Federal and singular
Of course, the reality of women’s rugby does not end with that team, but involves clubs and teams across the country.
According to the UAR itself, they are already more than 6 thousand (6084 in total) women who play rugby in Argentina, a figure that a growth of 15% compared to the previous year and almost 40% compared to 2017 (year of the previous measurement). Just 10 years ago, there were only 229 players signed.
Sofía González: “There is still a lot to do in terms of inclusion in rugby.”
And what is it that leads a girl to pay attention to a sport so associated with the ‘violent’ and, in the worst case, the macho? “I’m not sure why I went to rugby but I do know what I found. First of all, people that included me; I was a woman, I did not know the rules or the tactics of the sport and they immediately took me as part of the group, without aggressions, complaints or differences of any kind “, he sentenced Sofia Gonzalez and adds that of course there is still a lot of homework to do:
“To begin with, any girl who wants to play rugby today should find womenswear in business to do it. On the other hand, I would love for our selection to reach mode 15, that we have a name like Los Pumas and above all, that there is no no gender associated with this sportLet it be simply rugby, played by men and women alike ”.
For Yamila, the key is to continue opening paths and mentalities, both within and outside the sport. “We all are human beings before athletes, for which there should be no exclusively blame any sport for any conduct. Much is said about the machismo of rugby, but in general all our coaches have been men, as have many of those who helped us the most on this path. And the violence in rugby, whether verbal or physical, it is always penalized, at all levels. It seems to me that it is a sport that has many good things to hold on to, the relationship it promotes with rivals, for example. Depends on us and we do it”.
The very young Sofia Urriza (18), from Viedma, Rio Negro, takes the floor and concludes:
“There will always be prejudices, for all sides, the important thing is what each one does with it, how much importance it gives it. I was always a sportsman and gymnast and when I started with rugby I ran into many boys who refused to pass the ball to me or directly told me: ‘in this sport you’re not going to get anywhere ‘. But I never gave importance to them, I kept making my way, showing on the court what I had and have to give. The greater inclusion of women is taking place in many aspects and sport is one of them. It is part of an unstoppable social change ”.
Photos: Sergio Bianchi.
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