It’s a softer side to all the rucking and mauling.





Members of Canada’s national women’s rugby team have bared all in a

calendar aimed at promoting positive body images and raising a little

cash ahead of the reintroduction of the sport into the Summer Olympics

in 2016.

The 16-month 2013 calendar, which was shot by photographer Darryl Humphrey

and unveiled Monday, features 17 members of the team, who have

relocated from their homes across Canada to live, work and train on

Vancouver Island.

The cost of the calendar is $20 plus shipping and handling.





“Every woman on this team works so hard at being physically fit and

eating properly,” Barbara Mervin, a flanker on the squad and spearhead

of the calendar initiative, said in a news release. “It is a reward to

have these pictures taken so we can see our bodies in a beautiful

light.”

The calendar features tasteful black and white photos. It follows a

long-established trend in fundraising amongst teams from a variety of

sports.

In fact, this is the fourth time Canada’s rugby women have stripped down for a calendar. They did it for the first time in 2004.





The team has tried traditional fundraising in the past, from selling

chocolate bars and T-shirts to searching for sponsors, but found this

the most effective.

In addition to helping raise money for the women as they prepare for

the 2014 World Cup in France and qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Rio

de Janeiro, Mervin said the team is hoping to get beyond the

“stereotype about what women rugby players should look like” and show

their attractiveness.

“But having muscles is very beautiful and being physically fit is

very attractive,” she said. “We are elite athletes and we are proud of

our bodies.”

The team, which plays in both sevens and more traditional 15s, last

month won the 2012 Amsterdam Sevens, defeating the United 26-19 in the

final.

In the 2016 Olympics, the tournament will feature seven-a-side teams.





“Yes, sex sells but we hope to have a stronger message about body

types,” Mervin said of the calendar. “We hope we can help young girls to

know that you can be 170 pounds and be absolutely beautiful. We hope

they can relate to someone’s body and see beauty in that.

“There is beauty in the athletic body and that is what we have tried to capture with the images.”





Torstar News



Source:

http://www.thespec.com/news/article/750135--canada-s-rugby-women-bare-all-to-get-to-the-olympics