They come from all over Scotland, they go by monikers such as The Bulldozer, Fountain of Knowledge and Touch Me, they play for clubs with descriptive titles like The Guerillas, Hot Custard and Hoodlums, the youngest of the party is 16, the eldest 36 and they boast a wide range of occupations including a teacher, a physiotherapist an actuary and even a micro-biologist.
'They' are the 17-strong Scottish Womens Touch Rugby Squad who will shortly be departing the cold, blustery environment of their homeland to head for the year-round sunshine and warmth of Australia's Gold Coast where they will represent Scotland in the Touch Rugby World Cup.
"Its an eclectic mix all right," said their coach Eddie San Juan, a Scotsman of Spanish parentage, as he sheltered from the biting wind and driving rain on a cold Sunday morning in Edinburgh's Inverleith Park before putting the girls through one of their final training sessions prior to them leaving for the vastly contrasting environment of Coffs Harbour in New South Wales where the 2015 tournament is being staged. "But they are a very conscientious and committed bunch who are always willing to put in the work and go the extra mile. They've been training throughout the winter in all kinds of weather and they're really looking forward to competing in the World Cup where they're hopeful of achieving a top six finish."
Touch Rugby, for the uninitiated, is a minimal contact variation of the sport which enables players to take part without the fear of being on the wrong end of the bone crushing tackles which are often a feature of the more traditional codes within the game. It began in Australia in 1963 and is now played by men and women worldwide.
"Its a great honour to represent my country and I'm really excited to be playing in the World Cup' said Amy 'The Acrobat' Martin, a 24 year old PE teacher at Bucksburn Academy in Aberdeen. "I've only been involved in Touch Rugby for two years having previously been a basketball player but its the type of game that you can adapt to easily and where you can improve very quickly. All the girls in the squad either work or study on a full time basis as well as training hard every day. We're all determined to do our country proud in the tournament."
The Touch Rugby World Cup kicks off on 29th April with the Scottish Women being drawn in a group which includes USA and Japan along with the host nation, and reigning world champions, Australia.
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