Although only starting playing rugby for the first time during her freshman year, math teacher Nicole Edsall ended with an illustrious rugby career at Stanford which included a top 4 finish in the nation during her freshman year and an undefeated regular season her senior year. While Ms. Edsall spent a lot of her time in college honing her rugby skills, what stands out to her the most about her time playing the sport is the chance she had to make connections with other people.
Each year Ms. Edsall would spend her winter quarter, 8-10 weeks, practicing 3 times a week as well as working out in the weight room as part of her rugby season. However, some of Ms. Edsall’s most cherished memories of playing rugby for Stanford are the bus rides that she would take with her teammates to away games. On these rides, they would make skits for each other and jokingly make fun of each other which she found really funny.
“The most fun part is the team aspect, the camaraderie, and overall rugby has a really good culture around the world, ” Ms. Edsall said.
Ms. Edsall also believes some of the skills she learned as a rugby player have helped her prepare for her teaching career. She says, “I use communication in class from rugby because you have to project and give instructions, which I think is really helpful. I also gained a lot of self-confidence from rugby which is helpful with dealing with teens.”
