Tackle, ruck, line-out, scrum, try … you might be wondering, “what is this girl saying?”

All of these words have to do with a specific sport. If you said, “rugby”, you are correct; but if you said “ballet”, I’m afraid you’re way off.

What’s a try? A try is similar to basket in basketball or a goal in football and is worth five points.

Rugby was invented by a man named William Webb Ellis in the year 1823 during a football match in which Ellis picked up the football with his hands and ran with it. Tackling is very important in this sport. There are a few things you need to know if you’re thinking about trying to tackle in rugby: keep your back straight, cheek to cheek (ie butt to face), look forward, and go for the legs.

Rugby is a contact sport and players wear very little protection. All players wear a mouth guard and occasionally you will see one or two in weird hats, those are called scrum caps. Mouth guards are vital — bleeding gums and missing teeth are just not attractive. But that’s about it. So why rugby you might ask?

Imagine a 12-year-old girl who is overweight and self-conscious. She is afraid of what people think of her; she doubts her self-worth and importance. Four years ago, that girl was me. That was before I became a part of a rugby team.

Rugby has affected me in so many positive ways. The sport encourages an individual to be a team player, to be a leader and to be strong. Lacking confidence? Rugby can help with that. Is your fitness terrible? Come down to rugby. Need a few more friends; rugby.

On the rugby pitch, a person has to be loud, they need to be assertive. Fitness is not my favourite thing in the world (sorry coach), but it’s included in almost every session — sprints, Malcolms (you don’t want to know), push-ups, burpees … I could go on, but I really want you to try rugby!

It can even help with education opportunities as there are many rugby scholarships out there.

I am the daughter of a former rugby player. My father no longer plays because he pulled not one but both hamstrings!

And yet he still tried to convince his daughters to play. I finally made the man happy by agreeing to go to a training session three years ago.

He watched the whole time. I did not have a good day — my hands were shaking, I wasn’t wearing the right bra (girls, sports bra is key) and my hair was flying all over the place.

I had never held a rugby ball before, and the experienced girls were making the ball spin! Despite all of that, I learnt so many interesting things about the sport and loved it.

I kept going back and now I attend training sessions throughout the week and Saturday is game day.

If you are wondering how to get involved, there are four rugby touch league teams on the island: Mariners, Police, Renegades, and Teachers. Each team consists of a Men’s Contact League and a Women’s Touch League. If you are interested in joining touch or contact, come join us.

Mariners practice at Somersfield, Police practice at Police Field, Renegades at BHS, and Teachers at Whitney.

I’m going to be 100 per cent honest with you, contact is way better than touch. I said it, and I can’t take it back.

Women’s contact is more graceful than men’s; it has been said that “rugby was created by men, but perfected by women” and I tend to be in agreement.

Come find out for yourself! Contact bermudarugbywomensmanager@gmail.com for more information on women’s training sessions. For men, contact chairman@brfu.bm for more details on the men’s teams and seasonal training.

There are even training sessions for children, aged 4-18, so there’s no real excuse why you haven’t played rugby yet.

Most importantly (for us girls) there is an Under-18s girls’ team and a girls’ high school team. Currently we only have two high school teams: CedarBridge Academy and Berkeley Institute; but there are other players from Warwick Academy, BHS and MSA.

If you or a girl you know is interested in playing and this article didn’t scare you off, contact girlsrugbybda@gmail.com.

You should join rugby because it is a sport you enjoy and are passionate about — but how are you going to figure that out if you don’t come to a training session?

•Emily Sinclair was recently recognised as the “Female Youth Player of the Year” by the Bermuda Rugby Football Union