Bullets celebrate two decades

For the past 20 years, members of The Bullets, Truman State's female rugby team, have been shedding gender stereotypes and learning the game isn't as rough as some might think.

The Bullets celebrated 20 years of activity by hosting a reunion for former members Oct. 20 on their pitch. While the composition of the team has changed throughout time, the way outsiders perceive the sport generally has remained the same, alumnus Natalie Gerhardt said.

Gerhardt, who spent her first semester on the team in 2003, said that when she started, they had enough people to practice scrumming, a rugby play in which teams fight over possession of the ball, which takes eight players on each team. She said that after her first year, membership decreased, but is up again thanks to increased recruiting.

Alumnus Kristi Doyle was a member of the team from 1994 to 1997. She said that there were 20 to 25 players during her tenure, and they played about eight matches per season.

The Bullets now comprise 28 veteran members and seven rookie members, and have eight games scheduled this season, according to the team's website.

Gerhardt said womens rugby still confuses most people, because girls don't grow up playing contact sports. The respect between teams, on which the game heavily relies, prevents excessive aggression, although it does become rough at times, she said this leads to fewer injuries.

The most common injuries in rugby are head and facial cuts from coming into contact with the ball, while other contact sports, such as football, encompass a much wider variety of injuries, such as fractures, dislocations, strains and lacerations, according to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. The NEISS also reported football injuries occur more than five times as often as rugby and lacrosse injuries combined.

"I don't think of it as that aggressive of a sport when I'm playing it, because it's just fun, and no one really gets that hurt," junior Kat Toomey said.

In addition to the lack of injuries, Toomey agrees with senior Maddie Pollard, who said once you learn all the proper techniques, the game runs much differently than it might seem.

"When I tell people that I play, they always think that I'm really strong, but you don't need that," she said. "It's actually more graceful than it is anything else."

Pollard  said the attitudes of those not familiar with the sport could reflect the number of players on the team. She said the team's atmosphere hasn't changed and team spirit on and off the field has kept them together, regardless of the number of players.

The Bullets' next game is against Mizzou and Mid-MO Oct. 29 in Columbia, Mo. The last Bullets home game of the season is Nov. 12.