My First Rugby Game-The Blues!!

         Tonight I got a real treat! I was able to go to my first Blues rugby game in Eden Park.  My host dad is the high performance manager for the team and they offered for me to come along to the game and sit in the family and friends section.  This means that I was sitting with all of the players families!!! I even got a special pass to sit and go into the family venues!  I felt so cool and so touched that my host family would offer for me to come experience this with them, especially since this is my host dad’s job and career!

            When we first got to Eden Park, which is the Blues home field, we went into the family lounge.  This lounge is made only for players and staff families (how lucky am I?!)  We had a drink and relaxed with some of the other players faimilies before going out and finding our seats.  Tanya and Nick were kind enough to take TONS of pictures for me, so we stopped a few times on the way to our seats for prime photo ops!

            Once we were seated, the game began! The Blues had a rough start but we ended up pulling through in the second half to win! It was such an exciting game and I truly enjoyed every moment! I am starting to learn a little bit more about rugby and actually really enjoy it because in many ways it is like football but the game moves much quicker because they don’t stop between plays but continue to pass the ball! So fun to watch!!

            After the game Nick took us to where we could get autographs and meet the players! I was able to get three different autographs and pictures with three separate players! I was so excited and terrified because I have this awful habit of getting extremely star-struck and being very very shy.  But I managed to pull through and ended up with some great autographs to prove it!

            As if I didn’t already have a big head and think I was cool enough, Nick took us back into the family lounge where we could wait again with the families of the players to congratulate the team.  Unfortunately, after 2 hours of waiting the team still hadn’t finished their locker room chat so we headed home! It was still amazing to be a part of that VIP experience and I am so beyond grateful for such an incredible night! 

           Tomorrow I am off to a hot air balloon festival with all of my girls, so I must head to bed! This week has been a whirlwind of fun and first-times! I cannot wait for what the weekend holds! Goodnight, from New Zealand!