In her latest column for rwcwomens.com, Canada wing Julianne Zussman reveals how the generosity of the country's rugby community has lifted a huge weight off the shoulders of the squad and enabled them to focus solely on preparations for Women's Rugby World Cup 2010.
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Here is a giant bear hug to the Canadian rugby community.
Six weeks ago the women's national team was struggling to make ends meet. For the past four years the players have paid substantial amounts of money out of their own pockets to represent Canada at various tours and events.
With five months left in our World Cup preparation, there was still a projected budget of CAN$5,000 per player. Thanks to the persistent hard work of our coaches, administrators and volunteers, the word got out that we were in trouble … and the rugby community duly stepped up in a hugely generous way - CAN$155,000 worth of generosity.
Rugby is still an undersized enough sport in Canada that the community is considered a "community". Combine the relatively small numbers with the fact that we tend to be sociable types and it makes for a pretty tight group of people.
Less distractions = better results
There aren't many sports where you go to a local club practice and see rookies, vets, provincial and national-level players aged 16-36 all playing together … and who like each other enough to be seen together on Saturday nights, minus the mouth guards.
Playing a full contact sport also means that you have to look out for your teammates. On the rugby field you never put a teammate in a compromising position in anticipation of imminent contact. Forwards pride themselves on their ability to protect the generals of the team, the half backs, using such means as a winger I can barely describe.
Well, the Canadian rugby community has "looked out" for us in a way that we never imagined. As a result of these unexpected donations from Rugby Canada's Board members, the provincial unions and private donors, the players on the World Cup squad will be dedicating all of their focus to preparations leading into the tournament in August.
A number of players have already made arrangements to quit their jobs or significantly reduce their hours for the months of June and July. I'm not suggesting that it's impossible to train and work a full-time job - to the contrary. The women on the national team are some of the most effective time managers I've ever met. For the past four years they've managed professional lives, families, relationships and a full training schedule.
What this funding means is that these players are finally able to take a break from 16-hour days in order to ensure that their preparation for Women's Rugby World Cup 2010 is optimal. This means less distractions and more time to eat and sleep properly, not to mention fully recover from training sessions, which will inevitably translate to better results.
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There's also the intangible consequence of the donations. The daily demonstrations of support from the community have been equally overwhelming. As just one example, our Facebook page is now just short of 2,000 fans. We have four times as many fans as Earl Grey Tea, and twice as many as Elrond from Lord of the Rings!
Our self-published cookbook,
Nutritious and Delicious: The NSWT's Guide to Healthy and SCRUMcious On-the-Go Eating, has been selling without any of the requisite harassing that fundraising often involves. The money that the cookbook has raised is an important contribution to the bigger picture, but more than anything, it's a gesture.
Every time a club player or anonymous stranger hands me a 20 dollar bill, I get a small boost of pride in representing my country. All I can say is "thank you," but really it means the world to me that they care enough about what I'm doing to contribute.
Last month the squad spent 10 days together at a domestic camp in Olds, Alberta. The plan was initially to spend the time in New Zealand for a combination of training and test matches.
Although the prospect of training in New Zealand's autumn climate seemed preferable to the snow-covered fields of an Alberta "spring", the change of plans ended up being a blessing in disguise.
Support goes a long way
This was the least expensive Rugby Canada event that I've attended in the last four years, and arguably the most productive. The camp allowed us to take time to digest team concepts that are going to be crucial in our World Cup performance.
We trained two to three times a day and without a test match on the itinerary we didn't need to spend any time tapering - in other words watching movies and getting massages in place of training. The length of the camp also meant that we could go over concepts more than once to solidify our execution. It was nice to focus on our team play rather than that of an awaiting opposition.
Looking towards the summer and the World Cup, most players have club games throughout May, June and July. In June the team is also gathering in Victoria to play our final two-test series against the USA. This will be our eighth encounter in the past four years.
Then in July all of the Canadian players will participate in the National Women's League Championship as representatives of our provincial unions, and just after the tournament, the World Cup roster will be announced.
The time will undoubtedly fly by and before we know it the team will be boarding the plane to England. So before it's too late - and I speak for all the athletes involved with the programme - thank you to those who have helped alleviate the stress of the next three months.
It's hard to express our appreciation for your support, both financial and otherwise, but take my word for it … it goes a long way.
Next week we catch up with South Africa coach Denver Wannies to find out how preparations for their tour to Scotland are going and look back on an historic series with Kazakhstan in Dubai last month.
