University Sports Culture
Kathryn
I recently started university and like many university students looking to make friends I decided to join a sports team. Having never really played sports before, I chose women’s rugby. Partially on a whim, partially because I was already a weightlifter and I thought this would make a good use of my strength. I was also excited to hear about the women’s UK team winning the world cup earlier in the year. So my mind made up I started training in my second week of university.
What I wasn’t prepared for was the extreme social culture of university sports, after my first rugby social I had consumed so much alcohol the police decided to give me a lift because they didn’t think I’d make it home otherwise. Before I joined the team I was told that it was one of the most “inclusive” societies and yet the hierarchical nature of the society meant I was having to jump through ridiculous hoops and being systematically humiliated to “prove” myself to the established players. The pressure to binge drink is extreme and sometimes hostile. As a fresher in the eyes of some of the older players you’ve lost your own right to bodily autonomy. When I decided I’d had enough one social an older player threatened that she would make me vomit so that I could drink more. Honestly, the escapades of university sporting teams is really nothing new to the media, or anyone, but it doesn’t make a large amount of sense to strive for sporting & physical excellence and then follow up by drinking so much that people get hospitalised. We’ve all heard the horror stories of initiations and many universities, including mine, have banned the practice. My team simply renamed it as “welcome drinks”. During training and matches the team was so enthusiastic about the sport that they would happily break their bones rather that lose in a ruck but at the same time engaging in incredibly unhealthy behaviour.
Whilst I loved being part of the team and I was genuinely interested in the sport I’ve had to quit after the social culture started to impact my wellbeing. It’s so unfortunate that something that should foster a sense of community and health has actually left me feeling worse off. Maybe I just couldn’t handle the “banter” but I really don’t see this as a viable culture for achieving in sport.
