Boston U19 Rugby

I think I may have already mentioned that sports and I are not the best of friends. Oh, yes, I did. HERE. Well, none of that has changed. Sports and me generally have nothing to talk about.

However, my lovely husband LOVES sports, pretty much all of them. I try to learn about RBIs, completion percentages, rucking techniques, alley-oops, zone defenses,  and fourth downs, but none of it really sinks in (and I had to ask him for some sports terms to even finish that list).

But, this summer, Tyler’s been involved in a sporting activity I have a real interest in: coaching kids rugby. I love kids, he loves rugby and likes kids, too, so we intersect perfectly on this one. He’s running a youth program at a Dorchester community center, and a Boston-wide Under-19 group through the Boston Rugby Football Club, as well. July 22nd was the first game for his U19 team, and I was there as “official” photographer.

Sports photography is difficult for the best of us; all that motion is hard to capture. Throw in the dusk-to-night timeline, and I had a pretty tough time of it out there on the sidelines, but I tried my best!

Early in the evening, before Tyler’s boys got started, I enjoyed watching a younger group of children practice touch rugby, coached through the Mystic River Rugby Club (one of Tyler’s Boston Rugby Football Club’s main rivals):

Now that Tyler’s figured out that the key to getting me interested in sports is to add cute children to the picture, I think I’m in trouble …

As Team Mom for the evening (an impossibly young mom, since these kids were only about 8-11 years younger than me), I helped out in mom-like ways. I cut up oranges and brought bunches of bananas for halftime and after-game appetites. I laid out the jerseys.

Once the game got going, I did manage to get a few good action shots. Here are two of my favorites:

My challenges were my lack of super-zoom, sports-appropriate lens, and lack of light. Those field lights are bright, but hardly match up to the sun!

I tried to keep my attention focused on the game, but there were plenty of interesting spectacles off the field, too. These young baseball players trying their hand with the rugby ball caught my eye:

My natural inclination toward people and portraiture (and my street photography training) came out when I saw this older fellow taking in the game, cigar in hand:

And once I started focusing on people on the sidelines, I caught one of Tyler’s players looking especially epic:

The coach is especially cute, don’t you think?

The BRFC U19 team didn’t win that night, but for their first game, they did an excellent job. And Tyler’s already got me lined up for future nights on the field. I just can’t wait to get myself to a little kids’ game … the adorableness factor will make my camera explode!