sports 21

Whatever Happened to Selling Candy Bars?

The infamous “Rugby Girls” tell their side

By Emily Shepard, The Argosy (Mount Allison University)

  
   

SACKVILLE, NB-(CUP) What’s the
best way to raise money for your sport
and a good cause? According to Mount
Allison University’s women’s rugby team,
it’s to get naked. The team released a
monthly calendar in mid-December,
2004 featuring nude photos of various
players posing with a rugby ball. Two
dollars from each sale is to be donated
to breast cancer research.

The team identifies Cate Storey, who
initially presented the idea to the players,
as the pioneer of the calendar. After
some coaxing, and an explanation of the
merits of the project, the team became
very enthusiastic. According to Emily
Baadsvik, Ms \pril, “It’s not an unusual

thing, rugby teams getting naked.” She
cited the French national team, among
others, as an example of this trend.

The women almost unanimously call
the calendar “tasteful,” and are over-
whelmingly proud of the final product.
Lindsay Hilton, Ms September, referred
to the calendar as “portraying women in
sport” and “showcasing female bodies.”
Caitlin MacLachlan, Ms July, called it a
“very artistic portrayal of women in
sports, athleticism, and self-confidence
in bodies.” Jenn Heckman, who did not
pose for the calendar, called it “an initia-
tive to celebrate being a woman.”

Zoe Lavender, Ms November, com-

mented about the calendar, “We are, as

 

athletes, proud of our bodies and the
work we put into them, so we definitely
wanted that to come out in the pictures.”

Many of the players were nervous at
the idea of a nude photo shoot.
However, according to MacLachlan,
“You got comfortable after a few min-
utes. It was actually kind of fun by the
end of it.” Baadsvik, who was the first
to have her photo taken, said about the
photo shoot, “You realize that you’re
naked and you’re with a girl, and it does-
n't really matter because she’s seen it all
before.”

Heckman called the calendar an
“interesting initiative to come out of a
small place” like Mount Allison. She
speculated that the calendar was more
collective and effective because of this,
as students are more familiar with one
another. She joked about how students
might react to seeing the photos, saying,
“Oh, that girl sits next to me in the
library. Oh, she’s naked.”

Both photographer Siobhan Wiggans
and a committee of players screened all
photos to ensure that they were neither
gratuitous nor offensive.

Wiggans invested a huge amount of
time and energy into producing the pho-
tos for the project. “It was difficult to
envision the final product,” she said
when asked about her initial reaction to
the project. “I didn’t want the work to

be clichéd. I knew it would take a course

of its own and I was confident it would
work out.”

Although Wiggans had never taken
nude photos before, MacLachlan called
her “very professional and very laid-
back.” Wiggans, however, said, “I think I
was more nervous than the girls about
taking the pictures. The night before I
couldn’t sleep; I was worried about light-
ing and poses. I immediately relaxed
when I started taking the photographs.
It was pretty much like any other shoot
but with the clothes off.”

The calendar has received over-
whelming publicity, and members of the
team have been interviewed by Global,
Eastlink Magazine, CTV, the Times and
Transcript, the Chronicle Herald, Sackville
Tribune, and CBC Radio. ‘The players are
generally optimistic about this coverage,
which has boosted sales and thus
increased the amount that can be donat-
ed to breast cancer research. “Everyone’s
doing (the calendar) justice,’ said Hilton,
who added that the amount of coverage
was unexpected.

Aside from the media, many players
have had to deal with reactions from
friends and family. Several players com-
mented that their relatives were initially
shocked, and gradually warmed up to
the idea. Lavender commented: “Even
my grandmother is in on it; she’s been
selling calendars for me out in BC.”

 

Sporty Tip of the Month

Mark says, “Don’t listen to your doctors, they always lie
to “make sure” you’re healthy enough to play. If they
say not to play sports with the cast on your ankle, they’re
just being over-cautious. If they say to leave the cast on
for six weeks, they really mean four. And if they tell you
that you’ve ruined the healing process and need a new
cast because your ankle’s still broken, it’s just a cash-

gtab.”

 

Send your sporty tip of the week to othereditor@yahoo.ca
and remember, doctors aren’t better than us, they just

have nicer cars.