by Troy Whigham, with Kerry Warren

The sport of rugby has its roots in ancient Greece, and, despite being played by three different empires for centuries, there were no written rules until an effort was made by a group of British school boys in 1870 to produce a set of standards that all players could abide by. The name they gave the sport was certainly influenced by their alma mater: the Rugby School. The headmaster of the Rugby School then solicited other schools to adopt the sport as part of their regular curriculum, to serve the function of physical fitness.

There is a saying that goes “Soccer is a gentlemen’s game played by thugs and rugby is a thug’s game played by gentlemen.” And there is some truth to that. Thanks to the Rugby School, the game tends to be favored at private boarding schools and universities, where students of noble birth are taught proper manners befitting their station. They learn to behave like proper gentlemen and ladies, even as they spend their free time colliding violently with each other.

Kerry Warren is a nice person. Honest. She’s perfectly civilized.

She got her four-year degree in Aviation in three years from Central Washington University and was on the Dean’s List while she was there. She says “Please” and “Thank you”. She holds the door for other people. She puts pennies in the tray at the cash register.

But Kerry Warren is not just about good grades, public graces, and social etiquette.

You see, Kerry Warren likes to hit people. She likes to hit people hard.

She likes to play rugby.

She’ll talk about bruises and dislocations with a gleam in her eye. She’ll tell you how she likes to drop her shoulder and drive through people on her tackles. She’ll tell you the various sounds people make when she hits them so hard that they fly backwards. She’ll tell you the sounds people make when they hit the ground flat on their back.

She likes good, physical contact.

She likes to hit.

But she’s a nice girl. Honest.

She grew up playing the usual sports. Eight years of soccer, five or so of basketball, some gymnastics, some tee-ball, fast-pitch softball, competitive swimming; if it’s a sport, chances are she’s played it. And chances are she’s been pretty good at it.

After competing on the King County Aquatic swim team during her childhood years, she got a taste for water polo– one of the most physically-demanding sports offered for girls – at Auburn High School. She was in love with the physical contact that the sport brought; the type of contact that is inherent in a game where swimmers climb over each other in a frenzied fracas of near-drowning while chasing a weatherized volleyball. It was full-contact competition in a massive-resistance environment that tested her body as much as it tested her spirit to compete.

She loved the contact. It suited her.

Then, she went to Central Washington University and things changed.

“The only time the pool was available for practice was at 8-10pm and seeing that school came first, I couldn’t keep up with the demands. So, I began looking for something else to play. One of the ladies on the women’s rugby team and I got into a conversation one day before class and she started telling me what a high intensity and high contact sport it was. I decided to go out for the team. My coaches initially looked at my size and put me at outside center in the back line as an offensive player. However, after seeing my first BIG hit (against Western Washington University) and watching me plow through a girl weighing easily almost twice my weight, they soon moved me to the defensive pack at flanker. I also played a lot of wing when it was imperative we stop the ladies from bombarding the sides.”

And then one day, something changed again.

“The LFL was just something that happened to fall into my lap, if you will. I was at Central one day and my mom called me to get online and check them out because she had just watched the first round tryout on the news. As soon as she heard ‘full contact,’ she knew it was right up my alley. I had missed the tryout, but I got a contact and emailed them and after no response for a month or two, I was informed that the next tryout was Wednesday, April 22; all of maybe a week away. I made sure my work was done and my teachers cleared me for an absence and before you know it, I was there.”

She wasn’t the only rugby refugee at try-outs. There was another dark-skinned girl there who also had a gleam in her eye during tackle drills; another girl who enjoyed the sound the padded dummies made when they hit the ground hard.

“I quickly met Katie Ryckman as she was one of few ethnic girls and after hearing ‘rugby,’ it was game over. We were tryout buddies, exchanged numbers, and both chosen to make the team.”

Ryckman and Warren now make up one of the top running tandems in the Western Conference.

Ryckman scored three of her team’s four goals in a chilly victory at Denver in a game played outdoors in temperatures that hovered in the 20’s. It was so cold that it snowed in the second half. All of the players, dressed in their thin 2-piece LFL uniforms, suffered severe vasoconstriction but kept playing anyway. Ryckman was named the game’s MVP, and Warren was right there with her, laying out the Denver squad one ball-carrier at a time.

Kerry making a stop against Denver

She really likes to hit people.

And the Seattle fans know it.

So when she was suspended for a game, it could only be because she likes good, hard play, right? Maybe she played a little too hard? After all, she’s known as one of the toughest players on the Mist.

Kerry makes contact

“I have been recognized as a player, mostly at bars and clubs, but all it takes is one person and then I can’t get away from LFL talk. But, as crazy as it is, I was suspended from playing in a game against LA for ‘weight’ reasons and I had to watch from the stands. This was the CRAZIEST experience ever. I had more fans coming up to me asking why I looked so upset and why the hell Seattle’s RB wasn’t in the game. They were super upset and all rallied around me and it was great! Crazy that (there I was) in a pair of sweats, and my fans knew me by name, number, and position! Just embarrassing when it boiled down to why I wasn’t playing. I was suspended at a weight of 130; clearly not fat.”

So, what about doing something else, like training for a 5k run to burn off some calories?

“Contact sports motivate me and give me something to push for; something to work to get. I’m like a dog with a bone. Dangle it out in front of me and I’ll go hard for it, but take that motivation away, and what’s the point?”

Fame. Glory. Full contact. Looks like she’s found her place in the LFL. But, what about rugby?

“Rugby is the truth and it will stick with me forever. I wish I would have been able to continue playing throughout the LFL season. The girls are great. The drama is there, but the girls are chill and what could be better than knocking the crap out of someone and breaking bones and tearing ligaments only to meet up with them after the game for a hug and a beer and no sense of animosity?”

Sounds like fun times; just like the LFL but without the fame and glory.

Kerry in transit

“Running into me off the field, people wouldn’t be intimidated by me. It’s a switch that gets flipped when I step on the field. I don’t have an overly aggressive personality and I’m certainly not a fan of confrontation, but on the field, it’s a different world. It’s a chance for me to step away from the demands on everyday life and have some fun. I love the hits. I love the game.”

But has she always been a hard-hitting girl with a warm smile and a friendly disposition?

Just ask her mom, Penni.

“When she was 5, playing soccer, I could always tell if Kerry had a good game (in her opinion) by the number of players she knocked down. We tried to convince her that wasn’t part of soccer, but for her, it was ALL of soccer.”

But wait, there’s more.

“(When Kerry was in high school) she was playing defense in a game on Halloween. Running as fast as possible toward the ball that was very close to the goal, an offensive player came and kicked the ball. She was maybe a foot away from Kerry. The girl hit Kerry directly in the mouth with the ball. She fell back on her rear end and bounced back up just as quickly and ran to catch back up with the ball. It wasn’t until the next day she realized she could hardly move her mouth. Didn’t keep her quiet though. She still was able to talk about the goal that got away.”

Nothing like having your mother rat you out.

Ah, memories.

“That Halloween game,” Kerry adds, “I was playing stopper on defense and we were making a wall for the penalty kick and I was the only one willing to go for the ball. I took it to the face and dislocated my jaw! But I told my coach I was fine when she called me to the sidelines (where I proceeded to snap it into what I thought was back in place) and I argued that I was ready to get back in. But, this probably wasn’t something I jumped to tell her until long after the fact.”

So who does Kerry credit for being a great athlete and becoming a key member of the Seattle Mist?

“I owe my accomplishments as a player to three things. The first being God for the abilities and opportunities he’s blessed me with. Second, my parents for all the time spent not only taking me to and from practices and games, but for being there to support me in any sport I was playing, rain or shine. My dad also spent a lot of time with me as a young child teaching me about the game of basketball that was his passion and showing me how to apply the concepts of the sport and being a team player to everyday ‘real’ life. Lastly, I owe myself for all the time I have invested. The road in athletics isn’t always easy and I have put countless hours of blood, sweat, and tears into athletics. They are a massive part in my identity and I would be lost if, for some reason, I was not able to participate and channel my hopes and fears through the various games I have played.”

Kerry and a close personal friend

Sometimes in life we are fortunate enough to find something that suits our personality; that makes us happy and keeps us going. And sometimes just when we think we have found our paradise and can begin planning our life of happiness, something comes in contact with our lives and pushes us in a new direction. It can be the sort of contact that forces us to give up something we love, only to push us in the direction of something better. And when that contact happens, we rely on the God-given abilities we have been blessed with, and on the lessons our parents have taught us, and on ourselves.

Kerry Warren would still be playing water polo but for her contact with unsuitable pool hours. She might have settled for playing soccer but for her contact with a classmate that told her about rugby. And she might still be playing rugby but for her mother’s contact with a 30-second blurb about the LFL, and her mother contacting her about the tryouts. And, of course, there is Kerry’s contact with the LFL about the next tryout and the LFL contacting her back. And then that Friday night, sitting in the stands watching her teammates play, fuming because she wasn’t out there with them, she was most certainly contacted by her fans.

Contact. It tends to change our direction of travel.

Sometimes the lessons we learn in sport are the same lessons we need to learn to get through life.

Welcome to the All-Whigham team, Kerry.

Long live sport.

Kerry at practice

Kerry on offense. She’s #6