ANKARA (AA) - Wrestling is a Turkish traditional sport. Wrestling while carrying a ball is totally out of bounds. Turks only know that kind of battles from American films.
Rugby is not American though, it is an English sport. A rugby player in Turkey, must be fighting against all odds. No tradition, no tools, no special pitch, and most importantly, no spectator... There are 15 teams for men's rugby.
And how about a female rugby player in Turkey? That is so rare that there are only 9 teams, 7 players in each, unknown so far to millions. However, they are very close to become "established" these days.
All teams are preparing for a critical tournament next week. Turkish National Team will be selected after the tournament.
One of the women's rugby teams is at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara (METU), where women between 18-25 ages play.
Women's Rugby Team Assistant Coach and player Basak Yuncu told Anadolu Agency that the team was founded in 2010 and attended tournaments one year later.
Yuncu noted the vital importance of right training.
"Rugby is seen as a dangerous sport from outside but there are no problems if you learn the right techniques" Yuncu said.
Yuncu explained that the budget for rugby is limited and they had problems to buy their uniforms and added she bought rugby balls with her first salary.
"The National Women's Rugby Team will be selected at Turkey Women's Rugby Championship in Kahramanmaras in April 25-28", Yuncu reminded and added, "Afterwards the players who were chosen will form a National Team with 7 players and represent Turkey at the European Women's Rugby Championship in Slovakia's capital Bratislava on May 26-28, the first time."
Yuncu underlined the importance of the championship and said if Turkey qualifies then it will have a chance to participate the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics. In order to qualify Turkish team must be among first 12 teams.
At the moment there are 9 women's rugby teams in Turkey; the Middle East Technical University (METU), Hacettepe, Samsun, Eskisehir Aqua, Eskisehir 222, Galatasary University, Trakya, Bostanli Spor (Izmir) and Lions (Istanbul).
Yuncu says they don't have tools, sources, even a proper pitch. She says they use soccer post as rugby posts.
