Rugby!

After years of absence from the sport of rugby after a horrendous knee injury, Roland made his official "comeback" on Saturday. Roland had undergone his second ACL replacement surgery back in June of 2009. He had been practicing with a team in Glendale while we lived in Arizona to gradually work his knee back into the game. The first thing he did upon arriving in Texas was to find another team he could practice with. After weeks of practicing here in Dallas, Roland decided that his knee was ready to play (just shy of a year post op).

We packed the family up complete with camp chairs for the kids, a grass blanket, lots of food, tons of toys, and plenty of sunscreen. We arrived in Denton at the rugby tournament bright and early.

I was so excited to watch Roland play. In all the years we have been married I have never watched him play competitive sports (although I have heard many many stories about how good he is). Well, come to think of it, I did watch him play a game or two of softball, but I won't count that.

Most of the team would be arriving via their team bus but they were not there at the time of the first scheduled match. So, that left Roland and two other teammates (plus a few others that offered to play in lieu of the team) to represent the team in the match. This would explain why the following pictures do not have him in a jersey. I really enjoyed watching him do what he loves to do. He even got his very first injury of the season - a nail scratch to the face. The kids did really well. Weston was an angel and stayed close to me and listened to everything I asked him to do. What a good boy! I was so grateful! Natalie had me tied up enough. She wanted to be on that field with the players - either that or up in the stands! I constantly was pulling her away from the rope and pulling her down from the bleachers. What a silly girl.



We had a break between games so we sat in the shade and ate our food. It was very very hot and quite humid so we were not very comfortable. The shade was a welcome sight. It was very strange to me that the field did not have any trees for shade and for the first time since we moved here, there was not a cloud in the sky! Go figure!

The second game came so we gathered around the sidelines. Weston loved being with all of the guys. He plopped himself down right in the middle of everyone's sports bags and took it all in. The team thought it would be fun to put a jersey on Weston which Weston loved at first. I think he started to get a little nervous though when everyone started crowding around him and he could no longer see Mommy or Daddy. With all of the commotion he started crying. They tugged on his jersey to try and tie it up for him and he completely lost it. Poor little guy darted through the people into my arms and sobbed for a long time. He wouldn't let go of me or Roland for several minutes. Poor little buddy.


Roland didn't play in the second game. He thinks he drank too much so he was not feeling all that well.
The wait between the second and third games was over two hours. The kids were such troopers! We sat in the car to try and cool off and the kids watched a movie. We got out for a little bit and played at the nearby playground to try and get some wiggles out. But, the heat won again and soon we were back in the car trying to cool down.


We watched Roland's third game from the parking lot in the car. Natalie had fallen asleep and Weston was quite content sitting watching his movie so I wasn't going to mess with that. I was able to get a few pictures but I was zoomed in so far that they are really grainy and not very good. This is the only way I could watch the game though. They were all so little that I couldn't tell what was going on! I did see Roland manage to tackle his opponent in a very impressive sliding and hook maneuver. I must say, I was quite proud. I was also shocked with how quickly he sprinted across the field. People were not joking when they said he was fast! (How pathetic that I have never actually seen him sprint before).

It was a great day. I enjoyed watching Roland do what he most enjoys doing and Roland had a wonderful time. The kids were such troopers too. I was so proud of them. Hopefully it turns out just as great this weekend and hopefully I can get some better pictures!