GAME ON

home teams

by BETH A. KLAHRE & LAURA MOORE

Everyone knows that exercise is good for you. It helps control weight, improves mood, boosts energy, and promotes better sleep. It increases cardiovascular fitness, builds stronger bones, and promotes better coordination and balance. There’s more. Research shows that girls and women who play sports have higher levels of confidence and self-esteem. The opportunities for women to participate in team sports in the Wilmington area are limitless. From rugby to soccer to volleyball, there is a game with a level of competition and experience to suit everyone.

photos by DARIA AMATO Ruck Solid A fter ten years of practicing taekwondo, HOLLY WELCH, vice president of women’s rugby club Fear the Maniacs, discovered rugby and never looked back.

Many of the other thirty-two women on the team had the same experience. “People who try rugby love it. They don’t leave,” Welch says. “They are hooked after their first game. Even teammates who can’t play anymore come out to support us. And we consider them equal teammates.”

Wearing jersey number ten, Welch has been playing for five years as the fly-half, the team’s orchestrator after receiving the ball.

Fear the Maniacs (fearthemaniacs.com), whose members range in age from nineteen to mid-thirties, has attracted players from across North Carolina. The makeup today is mostly Wilmington- and Jacksonville-area women. While most of the players have prior experience, the team has drawn many new players

this year.

“It’s definitely strenuous,” Welch says about the sport. “The game requires lots of hitting, running, and sprinting. It’s a high-intensity interval workout. Eventually, you are gonna take a hard hit, but you are constantly surrounded by teammates and fans cheering you on to get up and keep going.”

Both tackling and rucking, fighting against each other to maintain possession of the ball after it’s gone down, puts the safety of players top of mind.

The team, under head coach JEREMY LEARY, enforces safe tackling, self-control of the body, and understanding one’s physical limits. Many of the players lift weights two to four times a week in addition to team practices on Mondays and Wednesdays at Flytrap Downs.

“Playing rugby provides a sense of community and belonging. I have never felt the level of camaraderie and respect as I have in rugby,” Welch says. “We face off against an opponent, go competitively hard the entire game, and as soon as we step off the field, we are friends. Win or lose, we had the chance to play rugby.”

Fear the Maniacs plays ten games per season on Saturdays against five other travel teams, some from as far away as Savannah, Georgia. Their hard work has paid off. For the first time since the team organized in 2018, Fear the Maniacs attended state championships in Columbia, South Carolina, in late April.

Kick

Off

photos by DARIA AMATO & ARIS HARDING

JAYNE HERMAN has played soccer almost her entire life. “My parents put me in a rec league when I was in third grade. I played in high school and on my college club team at the University of Delaware,” she recalls.

After graduation, Herman sought out rec leagues in her hometown in New Jersey. “When I relocated to Wilmington for a career change, naturally I needed to find a league,” she says.

Not only did Herman find the Wilmington Women’s Soccer Association (wilmingtonwomenssoccer.com), she has been the president for the past three years.

The association has nearly one hundred members

ranging in age from eighteen to fifties from Leland, Ogden, Castle Hayne, Sneads Ferry, Hampstead, and Wilmington.

“We are all playing soccer for exercise. Most of us go to work the next day, so we are not super aggressive, but we are competitive,” Herman says. “We are at different fitness, skill, and experience levels. The game is physical, requiring lots of running, so players do what they can. Some stay in longer while others get a few touches on the ball and call themselves off the field to rest.”

To stay in shape, many players also go to the gym or play in additional soccer leagues.

The six teams play ten games against each other over ten weeks in fall and spring seasons at Veterans Park. There are no try-outs or practices, similar to college intramural sports.

“The league is a supportive league. It’s fun to be out there on the field, and it’s fun to be on the sidelines,” Herman says. “We forget how much fun it is to play with women and still be competitive.”

This year, the formation of the teams took a new twist. Instead of signing up as a team playing with the same women as prior seasons, players have been mingled.

“We are trying to make it more social, a community instead of team against team. Now we are playing against friends,” Herman says.

Friendships have become one of the biggest benefits of the league.

“I’ve always found soccer fun and great exercise. But I’ve also met so many nice people, and I’ve made many friends through soccer,” Herman says. “I love having one night of the week to play against like-minded women. We are a nice community. and that’s really cool, especially this season.”

Ace Space photos by DARIA AMATO

ANGELINA WU has been playing volleyball since she was a small girl. The sport has been a physical and social outlet for her and continues to do that for her as an adult.

“I was pretty introverted, so it’s been a nice way of meeting people,” Wu says. “I love the teamwork aspect of it.”

Wu played competitively since eighth grade, playing on a varsity team throughout high school and choosing to play club soccer in college. It was on the sand volleyball courts at the University of North Carolina Wilmington where Wu says “it was how I met most of my friends.”

Working in software technology, beach volleyball has continued to take center stage in Wu’s fitness life.

“Just being outside and doing cardio, working on both my upper and lower body; it’s a full-body sport,” Wu says. “As an adult, you realize you’re not as agile as you were when you were young.”

Playing in the Wilmington Volleyball Series at Capt’n Bill’s Backyard Grill (read more about the women behind Capt’n Bill’s on page 10) has enabled Wu to stay fit and connect with a network of young professionals.

“It is nice to be around people who are in the same situation as you with a full-time job,” Wu shares. “You get to connect, not only on a volleyball level, but you network and get to know them outside of volleyball.”

TALITA TEIXEIRA ROCHA is one of those people Wu has met and became partners with on the sand. They have been playing together for the past few years.

The human resources professional shares Wu’s view of volleyball as both a means for fitness and connections.

“It is a great workout. I can play for three, four hours, and it feels like nothing compared to being in a gym,” Rocha says. “All my friends play volleyball. I work remotely, so volleyball is my face-to-face interaction.”

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