Page 82 - All Shapes & Zebras From Treorchy

Intrinsically, amateur sport is primarily played to be enjoyed by its participants. Nonetheless, it’s more than likely that most amateur rugby players would have felt the pressure at some point along with sleepless nights whilst mulling over the various twists and turns of the season.
It goes without saying, it’s a strange construction. You play a game with your mates in your precious free time, for free and for the sheer enjoyment of it and yet, as the seasons go by, these games can take their toll on your mind. We all know the physical strains that the game inflicts upon its players. In a warped and perverted irony, it’s a game that eats its young. Exaggeration and hyperbole? Perhaps, but for every player who burns themselves out physically, there’ll be others for whom the mental toil takes its toll over the years.
Personally, I remember my stint as captain, when we found ourselves on a 5 game losing streak, winless in the league from September until the end of the October. Reflecting back, I can’t get my head around the fact that it was only 5 games! Talk about making a mountain out of a proverbial molehill – but at the time it felt like half a season!
In the midst of such slumps, the tension built. The worry mounted. I wondered where the win could come from, if indeed it would ever come at all. I’d lie awake at
80 ALL SHAPES & ZEBRAS FROM TREORCHY