Jelly Carr’s Australian Adventure

As many of you know, I spent the last year in Australia with a large portion dedicated to rugby.
The team I played for was the Cottesloe Rugby Football Club in Cottesloe, Western Australia.
Our season took place over the course of 16 weeks (basically the spring and fall seasons
combined) with only one scheduled bye weekend!

There were 6 women’s teams in our competition pool, each team playing each other twice, all
within 40 minutes of each other (no 4.5 hour car rides to Albany for one game!).

Every team had their own dedicated field(s) and clubhouse with locker rooms and a bar, which
was a nice change of pace for each team to have a private space before / after the matches.
Our fields, the Cottesloe pitches, had the most beautiful view overlooking the Indian Ocean, with
the biggest, blinding sunset (pictured below).

The rugby I went into wasn’t the rugby I was expecting. Women’s rugby on the Australian west
coast is pretty undeveloped compared to the eastern coast, and honestly to the USA as well.
The weakness in the team I played for was mainly attributed to key players going on European
holidays, someone getting hurt every game, low numbers to start with, and a lack of chemistry /
trust in general. Although these things didn’t leave much room for growth, I was still able to take
a lot away, from a personal and rugby standpoint, and I was able to teach, which always feels
good.

The Cottesloe men’s team was much more advanced, with three competitive sides: Premier
Men, Seconds and Thirds. They also had a U18’s boys’ team and young kids practicing every
week… so many kids.

Overall, my trip across the world was an incredible rugby experience, and an incredible personal
growth journey. If anyone reading this is thinking of going overseas to play, I suggest Australia
be thrown into the hat as an option.

I’ll close by saying a huge thank you to everyone that supported me and to those who donated
towards this trip!