WUC Rugby Sevens: An Australian family affair in Namibia

 A look back at some of the most memorable storylines that didn’t get told during the World University Rugby Sevens Championship in Swakopmund

Sophie and her Australian Rugby teammates in the moments before a match at the FISU World University Rugby Sevens Championship

Travelling across half the globe to represent your country is already something special in itself, yet the moment becomes so much memorable when being able to do just that in front of your loving parents.

For Australian women’s rugby sevens player Sophie Quirk, she was fortunate to do just that, having travelled to Namibia for the 8^th edition of the FISU World University Championships Rugby Sevens tournament with her parents, who felt seeing their daughter representing her country for the first time was an occasion not to be missed.

Sophie with her father Chris at the WUC Rugby Sevens competition in NamibiaSophie’s father Chris says he wasn’t surprised to see his daughter take up the male-dominated sport of rugby while rowing up, and admits to still being a little nervous when watching Sophie battle it out in the physically-demanding game.

“Sophie’s always shown an interest in a lot of different sports, and many physical sports, so it wasn’t a surprise that she took up a fairly heavy contact sport in rugby sevens,” he says. “It’s a fairly interesting thing to see the crashing and bashing on the field, and knocking each other around, and at times I do get a bit nervous watching from the stands.”

Sophie, a first year Exercise Science student at Griffith University, explains where her love for the game originated.

“I grew up playing touch football, and my cousin is in the Australian senior women’s team, so that kind of got me into rugby,” she says. “I’ve been playing for around three and a bit years now, having played at club level before university.”

Her exploits at Griffith earned her a call-up to the Australian university squad for the FISU World Championships in Namibia, with her proud parents immediately setting aside their time to ensure they would be able to witness their daughter in action for her country.

“It wasn’t a big decision to come and see her … for her first time representing Australia, you want to be there,” Chris says. “To come over to a country like this for the first time is a fantastic experience for us.”

 The WUC Rugby Sevens tournament was tightly contested over three days in Swakopmund, Namibia

And after their 16-hour flight, and travelling across half the planet to see just that, Chris was filled with pride while sitting on the Swakopmund Central Stadium stands and watching his daughter run onto the pitch.

“To represent your county at any level is a fantastic achievement and it’s great to see her doing that,” he says. “I was very proud and excited for her when I saw her running onto the field for the first time.”

The Quirk family say they have enjoyed their stay so far in Namibia, having made the most of their experience in Africa, taking part in the popular activity of quad-biking over the many sand dunes near Swakopmund, while also planning a safari in neighbouring South Africa before returning to Australia.

“I’d never personally think to come here to travel, so it’s awesome to be here and experience the culture and get to play sport as well,” Sophie says. “It’s been fantastic.”

Filled with pride at being able to represent her country in front of her parents, Sophie hopes this tournament will provide a stepping stone to realising her dream of playing in the professional women’s rugby sevens ranks one day, in a sport gaining popularity and status in Australia.

“We have this new tournament called the AON Sevens Series, involving ten universities from across Australia,” she says. “It’s a 12-week competition, where we play every second week against all the different universities.

“But Australian women’s sevens is now professionalised in Australia. The team is based in Sydney and are on full-time contracts, and train four days a week – that’s their job. I’m definitely keen and working towards that.”

Apart from the action on the field, Sophie is looking forward to mixing with, and learning from, other athletes from different nations taking part in the Rugby Sevens Championships.

“I’m keen to socialise with all the other countries and get to know more cultures and hopefully make some new lifelong friends, have a good time, and do the best as a team that we can.”