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Okay, so one last re-visit to Lake
Placid. I actually forgot to share one of the funniest bits of it. As we were
leaving Mt. Van Hoevenberg the day of the 10km race, in the midst of practically
a blizzard, after we’d tromped back through the woods, we were almost back to
the pick-up point for the shuttle. So close! Susan was bee-lining it, as the
bus was within sight, meanwhile the path was hard-packed snow and slippery, and sure enough, my feet went
sliding right out from under me. Now I’m lying flat on my back like a turtle,
laughing so hard, and all I can think is:
“Good on me! Look what I’ve done, I’ve slid right in front of the bus. It can’t leave without us, not without running over my cold dead body at least!” I’m thinking I’ve been very valiant, heroic even. Susan turns around and looks at me.
“What are you doing there?” she asks.
I’m laughing so hard, I can only answer in sentence fragments.
“Do… you think… I’d be lying here… if I could… could be doing something else?
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“If it’s a good time, it’ll be a good time. If it’s a bad time, it’ll be a good story.”
Well, we haven’t laughed that hard in a while. So, it was a good story at least.
Quoting from my first post on the Lake Placid trip (“Why so many cowbells?”):
"Sports offer opportunities to take risks, fall down, fail. And get back up and try again. Girls are historically taught to behave. We miss those chances to take risks, possibly fail. Moments that are scary, but build grit.”
When I wrote this, the 20km x-country ski race hadn’t happened yet, I published the post that Sunday morning. And so I had no idea that Jessie Diggins was going to fall coming around that last turn before the finish line, again an indicator of how aggressively she was attacking the course. She fell down, got back up, and still finished in 12th place.
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It was heart-breaking of course, but also maybe in another way it was okay.
Even the best fall down sometimes. And it’s okay. It’s getting back up, that’s what matters most.
Maybe you can’t know great peaks without also knowing deep valleys.
And maybe the harder you hit, the higher you bounce.
There were so many stories from the Olympics about athletes who had fallen, battled injury and other adversity, to return to their sport: Mikaela Shiffrin, Lindsey Vonn, Federica Brignone, and so many others.
Just saw an interview on Insta with US Bobsledder, Elena Meyers Taylor, talking about how she wanted to show her kids, who are disabled, what’s possible if you pursue your dream.
She said, “I wanted my kids to see me fall.”
“As much as I want my kids to see me succeeding, I also want them to see me falling and getting back up.”
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXe1aI1pOFd/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
So, Jessie and I are obviously kindred spirits. She fell, got back up and placed 12th, and I fell and got on the bus! Yay us!
Actually, there is one thing we do have very divergent opinions: Glitter.
I was reminded of Jessie the other day... found a stray piece of glitter on the floor. Drives me nuts! I spend the months after Christmas cleaning up glitter. It's my nemesis. I have been known to crawl around on my hands and knees with a roll of tape to pick up any errant bits of glitter after the holidays. We won’t even buy Christmas cards that have glitter on them, because I know I’ll be picking up little bits of glitter for the next three months. You know how you have to back up, look side to side, to get the light to hit it just right, so that you can see it? I shudder to think of how much glitter there is at her place.
How can one person be so joyful?
And then I also follow Noah Kahan, huge fan, and i ask –
How can one person be so sad?
Went to a CD listening party for his new album, The Great Divide, last week, at Wanna Hear It Records in Watertown, and the place was packed, as we all quietly stood and listened to the songs for the first time, and sang along with the title track when it came on.
But now after the Olympics, and Lake Placid, and going to Boston Legacy FC soccer games, and watching Boston Fleet hockey games, my Insta feed is all messed up, and thinks I’m a Nordic skier, and play hockey and soccer.
Skiing – It’s just too cold. I guess one should expect snow and coldness. I’ve been thinking a lot about why we were so unprepared for Lake Placid, and I think it comes down to two things: We think March is spring. It is not. And we have an irrational fear of being too hot. This fear has now been replaced by an irrational fear of being too cold. We might go back to the Weston ski track where Julia Kern got her start, to shoe. But I can tell you exactly where I'll be in four years: watching the Olympics from my couch.
Hockey – Also chilly. And not enough scoring.
Soccer – Not enough scoring. Not enough tackling. So much running after the ball and kicking it, when wouldn’t it be so much easier if you could just pick it up and run with it? And then players get penalized for just bumping into each other.
If only there was a sport where you could actually put your hands on the ball and run with it. And you could actually tackle people.
Oh, wait, there is a sport like that: RUGBY!
And it’s a sport where there’s a place for everybody, and every body type. Many sports you need a certain type of physique to excel. In rugby, there are positions for fleet-footed backs as well as power-house forwards, grit being the common ingredient. As I always said, “I may be small, but I’m slow.” And:
“It’s
not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” It’s
good to be scrappy. (side note: Jessie Diggins was described by one of her
early coaches as having "scrappy technique." Love that! Will take
scrappy over meticulous any day.)
Good news, Boston has a Women’s Elite Rugby (WER) team, the Banshees.
Bad
news, so many members of my old club, Beantown RFC, were picked up by the
Banshees, the club is struggling to exist, and is in the midst of re-inventing
itself. Beantown 2.0. It’s like the old saying: Video killed the radio star.
Beantown got stretched too far, trying to be too much of everything to too many
people, from players aspiring to play for the national team, to recreational
players, women who played in college and wanted to keep playing
post-graduation, to walk-ons with no/limited experience, joining for the
camaraderie and the pure love of the game.
Beantown is currently hiring a coach for sevens this summer and 15s for the fall.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DWsIoKzjSB9/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Currently recruiting players, all skill levels welcome.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DXSA2aEDMNb/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
All of this comes just as Beantown is about to celebrate its 50th anniversary:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DVvrtHgjf-H/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
For a pretty complete history of women’s rugby in the US, check out Kerri Heffernan’s book, No Advantage Given: The Incomplete History of U.S. Women’s Rugby 1972 – 2026.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DWXbAypDfU1/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
The
best place to order it from is the publisher:
https://www.stillwaterbooksri.com/no-advantage-given-incomplete-history-womens-rugby-1972-2026
And then there is my rugby book, published 20+ years ago, Go Forward, Support! The Rugby of Life. And The Happy Clam, which came out in 2020, which is about, well, happiness. If you want a copy of my rugby book, just put something in the comments, and I’ll get one out to you, it’ll be simpler. The Happy Clam can be ordered directly from the printer/distributor:
https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params=H5CEjLsCLxp0QjPdNOPvntbgUAZdvqWRZoms9HXVnCO
Bringing this full circle –
I
always said, the best thing, or at least one thing, I learned from rugby, was
how to fall, and get back up - over and over again.
I would, if I could, pull out my old jersey and cleats and get back on the field and play for them again. Some days, I feel like I could. But, seriously, folks, more likely, I’d fall – and not be able to get back up, just like in the commercials. I’m retired, and ready to reinvent myself.
We’ll pick up on that thread next time…
Song of the Day:
Falling Forward, by Julia Fordham
https://youtu.be/xNH_TWmJ_6w?si=CcXQYKPjlcfkgc_c
Upcoming:
April 25 – Happy Independent Bookstore Day! Support your local bookstore! Some of my fav’s: Belmont Books (where Stacey introduced us to A Rosie Life in Italy); Hummingbird Books (now celebrating 4 years in business, where Wendy Dodson has hosted a local author fair for the past several years, thanks for having me!); White Birch Books in North Conway, NH; BOOKLINK Booksellers in Northampton, MA; Booklovers’ Gourmet, Webster, MA; Gibson’s Bookstore, Concord, NH; Concord Bookstore (MA), Buttonwood Books and Toys, and Cohasset, MA.
April 30 – Boston Fleet Women’s Hockey Team - Game 1 of the Walter Cup Playoffs (PWHL) at 7 PM Eastern, at Tsongas Arena in Lowell, MA. Opponent TBD.
Games
are being streamed on YouTube and the PWHL website.
May 2 – Writing Salon 10 AM to 12 noon at the Hull Public Library – Join us for an opportunity to share and listen to the works of other writers in the area.
Join
Paula Nesoff for a gathering of writers sharing pieces of their creative
journey. The work can be poetry, to excerpts from a book of nonfiction,
fiction, memoir, magazine article and none need to have been published. The
time is for reading, no critique or feedback - just appreciation of the person
sharing. People can come to listen and maybe be inspired to write!
Register
ahead of time on the Hull Public Library website:
https://hullpubliclibrary.assabetinteractive.com/calendar/writers-reading-salon/
May 2 – Boston Fleet Women’s Hockey Team - Game 2 of the Walter Cup Playoffs (PWHL) at Tsongas Arena in Lowell, MA. Time and opponent TBD. But it better be between noon and five!
May 2 – Banshees Women’s Elite Rugby (WER) - Home opener vs. NY Exiles at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Quincy, MA. Kick-off is at 5 PM. Tickets can be purchased online ahead of time: https://www.universe.com/events/boston-banshees-vs-new-york-exiles-tickets-7WRV5J?ref=share-widget-buffer
May 3 – Hull Pride 5K Run (run, walk, or dance; all paces welcome!) – Registration is now open. Begins at 9:00. Race starts and ends at Hull High School. https://www.hullpride.net/events/over-the-rainbow-5k-run
May 3 – Boston Legacy Women’s Football Club (i.e., Soccer) – Host the Denver Summit FC at 3 PM at Gillette Stadium. Celebrating Pride! Will also be televised on CBS & Paramount Plus.
Footnote: At the Boston Legacy soccer game on March 28th, at Gillette, the winners of the girls’ soccer state championships were all present and recognized:
Division 1 – Natick; 2 – Duxbury; 3 – Medfield; 4 – Sutton; 5 – Hull. Congrats all!
Books:
If
anyone wants copies of my books, they’re both on Amazon, but for the rugby
book, just reach out in a comment, and I’ll send you a copy. It will be
simpler.
The Happy Clam can be ordered directly through the printer/distributor (IngramSparks), cutting out all the middle-people:
https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params=H5CEjLsCLxp0QjPdNOPvntbgUAZdvqWRZoms9HXVnCO
The book is also available anywhere fine books are sold, as well as Bookshop.org.
SubStack – Also, thanks and welcome to all the new followers on SubStack! A simple and convenient way to get each new post delivered directly to your in box.
https://substack.com/@rosemaryschmidt
References:
© 2026 Rosemary A. Schmidt
Rose Schmidt is the author of The Happy Clam (© 2020), and Go Forward, Support! The Rugby of Life
(© 2004), both published by Gainline Press. The views expressed herein are
solely those of the author, and do not represent the views of any other agency
or organization. Use of individual quotes with proper citation and attribution,
within the limits of fair use, is permitted. To request permission to re-use or
reprint any of the content on the site, please contact me.
