When the women\u2019s Rugby World Cup starts next week 512 players from 16 squads will have a chance to represent their country on the sport\u2019s biggest stage. It will be a proud moment for all but perhaps none will deserve it more than the part-timers who have to juggle playing rugby with jobs outside the sport to make ends meet.<\/p>\n
Among many diverse life stories are the tales of three props: the Canadian firefighter Olivia DeMerchant, the Brazilian tattoo artist and animator Samara Vergara, and the Samoan property manager and mother of four Denise Aiolupotea.<\/p>\n
Aiolupotea, who plays in New Zealand for the Hurricanes at club level, has had financial help from her family to achieve her World Cup dream given the non-professional status of the Samoa team. Additional support from her husband and family has enabled her to prepare while juggling a full-time job in a packed schedule.<\/p>\n
\u201cA typical week when we are at home and not in camp, I get up to train at 5am, get home and sort the kids out for school, go and do my day of work and come home,\u201d says Aiolupotea. \u201cIf there\u2019s after-school things I tend to that but there\u2019s also training in the evening as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a makeshift home gym, so it\u2019s easily accessible if I need to be at home and can\u2019t get out to the gym. I have to squeeze it in whenever I can. It doesn\u2019t end at the weekends. I have to do game replacements or recovery to make sure my body is in a position to start another week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aiolupotea admits it is \u201cfinancially challenging\u201d but worth it as \u201cthe jersey means a lot more\u201d. She adds: \u201cI take all the opportunities I can get and my family are so proud to have someone go to the World Cup, it\u2019s a once in a lifetime opportunity for me so it\u2019s something I couldn\u2019t give up.<\/p>\n
Samoa\u2019s Denise Aiolupotea attempts to get past Volatiana Rasoanandrasana of Madagascar during the WXV 3 2024 match. Photograph: Christopher Pike\/World Rugby\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cI really wanted to be a part of it after being part of the Dubai team who qualified [at WXV 3]. It\u2019s definitely a challenge and not easy being away from home, we miss milestones and the children miss us like crazy, but they are also so proud to see us on that world stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
DeMerchant, who will be paid by Canada during the World Cup, has been a firefighter since 2023 and will be competing at her fourth tournament.<\/p>\n
Before her first World Cup, she did \u201codds and ends\u201d jobs to fit around rugby before moving to a physio clinic and then firefighting. \u201cI really like the team aspect of firefighting,\u201d says DeMerchant, who plays for Halifax Tars and previously had a spell at Exeter Chiefs. \u201cI really like working with others for the same goal. Problem solving with firefighting is something that is really valid. I like helping my community, I enjoy working as a team and problem solving is something that is always fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week’s action reviewed<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Scheduling around DeMerchant\u2019s job has affected her preparations for the tournament, where Canada are among the favourites. She was unable to compete in the Pacific Four Series in May, against the US, New Zealand and Australia, because she could not get the time off. It has taken a lot of organisation around her shifts to travel to England for the World Cup. Brazil\u2019s Vergara is part of the first South American squad to qualify for a Women\u2019s Rugby World Cup. She diversified her income after the pandemic, adding tattooing alongside her animation work. She has long balanced work with sport having been a muay thai fighter before switching to rugby in 2017.<\/p>\n Samara Vergara sports a Stitch tattoo as well as tattooing clients and some of her international teammates. Photograph: Fotojump<\/p>\n Vergara, who plays for Pasteur in S\u00e3o Paulo, is self-employed, which makes scheduling easier but more stressful in other areas. She will receive some pay from the Brazilian union during the tournament but says: \u201cI won\u2019t lie, it\u2019s not easy. There\u2019s always the worry that I might not find a temporary job that fits with the athletic schedule. So it\u2019s very, very hard but we do what we have to do. It\u2019s really hard. Sometimes I have to prioritise rugby because we have a lot of training sessions and physiotherapy. It\u2019s difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n Vergara, who recently tattooed some of her international teammates, says it can take a toll on her mental health but that Brazil have psychologists to support the players. The prop speaks to other players who are in a similar position.<\/p>\n Such an experience is common across the tournament. All three players, and many like them, balance early mornings, late nights, work and training. Their stories reflect a sport moving towards full professionalism. Though they come from different countries and careers, they arrive in England with a shared goal: competing for the World Cup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the women\u2019s Rugby World Cup starts next week 512 players from 16 squads will have a chance…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70349,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-70348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u201cMy employer was really great, I told my chiefs what I planned to do and they were pretty supportive,\u201d she says. \u201cI am working a lot in October and November when I get back but I think I had to have 21 days off, I used all of my vacation time, time in lieu that I had built up and a lot of switches with co-workers.\u201d<\/p>\n