BETH WILCOCK, 18
England U20 and World Rugby Women’s
Sevens Series team member
five years ago. It’s a
contact sport, which
means my body has to
be even stronger, more
powerful than it was at
school. But without my
body, I’d never have
been called up to the
England sevens squad
for the Biarritz World
Series this year, which
was my proudest
achievement to date.
It makes all those snide
remarks worthwhile.
To think that I’d
dreamed of competing
in the World Series
since I was little,
watching rugby with
my family and seeing
the likes of Heather
Fisher on TV, and
now I get to wear an
England kit, too. Being
out on that field was
mind-blowing. It just
didn’t feel real.Sometimes, my
relationship with my
body takes a dip.
I know there are times
when I’ve put on more
weight than I’ve liked
playing rugby. But
what is weight, really?
Making my body as
powerful as it can be
is going to really push
me to the limit with
my sport. When it
comes to the negative
comments and looks
I get from people in
the gym, I mostly
try to shut them out.
It’s about being
mentally strong.
I often need to remind
myself that people
have no idea how
I have to fuel and train
my body to meet the
demands of my sport.
And that’s okay. At
the end of the day,
my body has helped
me achieve incredible
things. And that’s all
I care about.I’ve pretty much
played sport since I
could walk. I grew up
in a family of boys, and
that was just what we
did. So I was always
a bit bigger and more
muscly than a lot of
the other girls at school- and some of the boys,
too, which got me a
few negative remarks.
Mostly from the boys,
actually. It still does.
Being a female rugby
player, people are
going to look at you
differently. I started
playing rugby about
Women’s Health SEPTEMBER 2019 | 99