Quite Possibly the Best Job On Earth

The New Zealand All Black Sevens - Gold Medal Winners

Last year I was lucky enough to get a call from the New Zealand All Black Sevens physiotherapist, Matt Wenham (aka Chalky).  He'd heard about me and asked if I'd be interested in working on the team during training camps here in Mount Maunganui.

At the time my wrist was really playing up and I was having treatment on it.  I wasn't sure I'd be able to handle the physicality of working on rugby players, particularly at that level.  I asked Matt if I could think about it and get back to him.

Looking back, it makes me chuckle.  Who in their right mind says "maybe" to the All Blacks Sevens? 

It was an honour being asked.  I didn't have to chase this, they found me and asked ME if I could come work for THEM.  Of course I had to say yes... and I did.

At STOMP - really giving it to him in the gluteus maximus

It's been a long time since I've worked on a team.  The last "team" experience I had was just before I moved to New Zealand and I'd been asked to join the North American tour with STOMP.  I loved being on the road, it was a great social scene.  But the work is hard and the hours are crazy.  I'd work late into the night, often until 3am and then sleep in late.  Working on athletes is physically demanding.  You've got to be pretty fit to keep up.

 

Mostly I work alone.  I've had my own business for such a long time that I don't know what it's like to get a regular pay check or to work with other people in an office. It's just me and the cats.

On the Set of STOMP

I don't know a lot about rugby.  I've been to a few All Black games and I was a volunteer for the IRB Rugby World Cup in 2011 which was hosted here in New Zealand.  I've even been to the Wellington Sevens.  But I go for the excitement of the game - I don't follow any of the players.


I know the body.  I know how it works.  I understand the mechanics and physiology and how to treat injuries.  I'm a Neuromuscular Therapist and have been doing it for 18 years.  What does it matter if I know nothing about rugby.

I think this was an advantage because I wasn't star struck or nervous about going to work.  I had no idea who any of these guys were.

We are set up in a big common area in the hotel where they stay during their training camps.  There's three of us in there - Chalky, me and Annette, the other therapist who has been with them for years.  It's very relaxed.

I was just thrown into it. I wasn't given the scoop on any of the players - what position they play or what injuries they had.  I didn't even know any of their names.  They all call each other by nicknames.  I was just expected to figure it all out.  I guess most people would know who they were - but not this Canadian girl!  Gradually I got to know the guys and it didn't take long to feel comfortable (but I still don't know most of their full names).  It's a real team environment - I forgot how much I missed it.

Our shift starts in the evening after 7pm and usually finishes around 10:30, sometimes later.  The guys hang out watching television, chatting to each other, having late snacks and waiting for their turn on the table with one of us.  It's a good vibe.  Very relaxed and easy.  We have a lot of laughs.

Their coach Gordon Tietjens comes in from time to time if he's not off playing tennis.  That man works so hard coaching all day and then he plays tennis for hours in the evening or early morning.  He'll usually pop in for a massage when the last guy has finished (hence the late nights).  Titch is a real  Roger Federer fan.  If Federer doesn't do well, he takes it out on the players at training the next day.

Gordon Tietjens - Coach of the All Black Sevens and hater of cheese

I thoroughly enjoy working with Titch.  He's just an amazing man.  He has presence.  There is a twinkle in his eye and he's always smiling at the end of the day.  You can see that he loves his job.  This past year he was given the great honour of being inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame.  But to me, he's a local who happens to coach the world's best rugby team. We have some great chats on the table.  Titch always asks questions and wants to know everything there is to know about you.  He's genuinely interested in people.  We often talk about public speaking - he does a lot of it.  He gets asked to talk about Team Building - understandably.  This guy knows a thing or two about building winning teams.

The reason the All Black Sevens are so successful is because Titch knows how to choose the right players.  He looks for guys who have high integrity, who have strong morals and values and who are willing to work hard to achieve their goals.  As Titch says, "We are a team, there is no 'I', only 'We'..."  He doesn't tolerate ego and he practices what he preaches.  He's an amazing role model for his players and you can see and feel the respect they all feel for him.



Because of Gordon Tietjens, the team are a bunch of really cool, down to earth guys.  They are fun to work with, easy to talk to and it all helps to make my job pretty awesome.

It all sounds glamorous - massaging hunky rugby guys for a living - but it's bloody hard work!  If these guys weren't as awesome as they are, I might have walked away after the first season.  I don't have time for big egos or to feel like I'm hired help.  Physically it's demanding and hard on my body.  I want to be useful as a healer right up into old age so I have to look after myself.  When you are acknowledged and appreciated by the people you are "healing", then there is an exchange of energy.  If that energy wasn't there, I couldn't do it.  You have to get what you give.

A Sevens Player cooling his muscles after a hard training

One of my friends left a cheeky comment on my facebook saying how lucky I was to be working on the rugby boys.  I replied by saying, "You try softening tree trunks with your bare hands, it's bloody hard work!"  There's a lot of muscle to get through.  It's not about rubbing them down - but helping them through to the next round of training.  This is serious business for these guys.  Their career depends on how they perform from one day to the next.  No matter what I say, people tease.  They're right, it's a great job but not because of the bodies... a leg is a leg is a leg.  I get to be a part of this team as one of their therapists.  In a small way that makes me a part of the family (even if it makes me a distant cousin, I don't care).

Chalky and Annette are equally laid back and awesome colleagues to work with.  Annette and I are the only two women but we are respected, and even feared by the players because of our strength.  Neither of us are very big (Annette is only about 5') but we are strong!  The other day one of the players asked me if I could go easy on him.  I asked if he was feeling fragile.  "Like tissue paper."  He said.

I didn't need this contract for my CV.   After 18 years as a therapist, I've done my hard time working on athletes.  I was enjoying my quiet little studio in my garden by the beach.  I was trying to stay under the radar, enjoying semi-retirement.  But the Sevens found me and I'm grateful they did.  It can be lonely in the secret garden.  It's nice having the best of both worlds.

So at the moment I'm just working with the team when they are here training between tournaments which suits me.  But as things heat up with the 2014 Commonwealth Games approaching, I imagine it could get busier.  I'd love to go with them.

Loving how Sammy is hugging his new shoe in this shot.

RWC 2011

I'm also proud to report that I am learning more about rugby.  The guys have been gracious enough to teach me a thing or two and to answer my dumbass girly questions.  Plus, we watch a lot of games when we're working.  It's finally starting to hit me that I am actually working on celebrities in the sports world.  These guys are a big deal - but to me they are just my patients and ordinary people.  Take Tomasi Cama for example, I've just learned that he has been named IRB player of the year.  That's a big achievement!  I just knew him by his nickname!  I'm shaking my own head.   Next time I see him I should bring him a present.  What do you get a rugby player these days?  Do you think flowers are too much?

I'm learning more and I realize how little they probably know about the therapist who is working on them.  This is a girl who has come a long way from starting her own business in Toronto at the age of 20.  I have treated a few celebrities, actors, athletes, entertainers, very successful business people, most of them Canadian and American.  But now I have one of the most talked about Rugby teams in my brag book... and they found ME.  

The team is off to Dubai tomorrow and then South Africa the following week.  Good luck guys!  I'll be watching with new respect and admiration... and most of all pride.  I can say, I had a hand in your success.  That's amazing.

The Concept of Halloween

Hilly & Billy

Native girl

Halloween came and went barely noticeable.  I was at a business meeting in fact, so there were no bowls of candy waiting for the one or two trick or treaters I normally get.  Gradually things are changing here as more and more North Americans and Europeans immigrate.

It was once my favourite holiday.  I had a huge collection of costumes.  But as the years pass, living in New Zealand, the novelty has started to wear off.  Maybe it's age but I truly believe that if I was still living in Canada, I'd be dressing up and cancelling all business plans to hand out candy to cute kids threatening to trick if I don't treat.  Awwww.

As you can see by my photos, I was really good at dressing up.  I had some pretty cool costumes.  These are just a small percentage of the costumes I've worn.  I could do a whole collage of costumes!  Maybe I'll do that next year.

I was admiring my Canadian friends photos on Facebook today, they are all still very much into the Halloween costume thing which makes me feel incredibly proud.

Saying that, I am beginning to think that Halloween needs to change.  These are some key factors which make me think Halloween isn't necessary and why I disagree with it coming to New Zealand.

Wellington 7's

Wellington 7's

Wellington 7's

Wellington 7's

1.  Kiwis love to dress up any time of the year.  The parties are often "fancy dress" which doesn't mean wear a fancy dress... it means wear a costume!  There have been a number of Canadians turn up to fancy dress parties wearing cocktail dresses.  Ooops.  Often the parties are themed (ie. Things beginning with the letter "T" or recently I knew someone who had a Pulp Fiction party) so you can't just have one token costume - you need to put some thought and effort into it. 

Wellington Rugby 7's

Wellington Rugby 7's

2.  New Zealand has Rugby 7's.  If you've ever seen a Rugby 7's game, it's all about the costumes.  I went to the Wellington Sevens a few years ago and let me just say - a lot of the people in the crowd are there to dress up and see what everyone else is wearing.  The rugby is awesome but it's secondary for most.

3.  We're heading into summer down here - which means long days and warm temperatures.  It just isn't right celebrating a spooky holiday when the sun is beaming.  It's not even pumpkin season for heaven's sake!

4.  It is not part of the Kiwi culture, so why are we shoving it in their face?   Kiwis celebrate Guy Fawkes - a guy who set fire to Parliament.  They light firecrackers (which are illegal in most countries) and celebrate blowing shit up.  Embrace that!

5.  Kiwis don't understand the whole "trick or treat" thing.  I had a lady in for a massage today complaining about a 5 year old who knocked at her door last night saying "Trick or Treat".  My client asked the little girl to do a trick before she handed her the "lollies" (as they call them here).  The little girl bluntly said, "you're supposed to give me lollies."  No one gets it.  So then what's the point?

Disco Babes

When I was a kid, trick or treating was all about the strategy of getting as much candy as possible because we just didn't GET candy throughout the year.  I had to make my Halloween candy last for a whole year!  By the end of year I recall desperately chewing on those molasses candies just to get a sugar fix.  I had to hide my candy from my brother because he'd eat all the good stuff when I was sleeping.

Hillbilly family photo

 Halloween was also about getting out and socializing with your neighbourhood.  What a GREAT way to know who was in the neighbourhood, for both the kids and the adults.  For the adults, it was a way to see how much the kids were growing up.  For the kids, it was a great way to figure out which houses were safe and which ones weren't kid friendly.  This was back in the day when we all roamed freely and our parents didn't know where we were!  Those were the days.

It's not trick FOR treat... it's trick OR treat.  That basically meant, "gimme a treat or I'll play a trick".  I know that sounds threatening but it was in keeping with the whole neighbourly theme.  If a house didn't turn it's lights on and didn't hand out candy, they were likely to be toilet papered.  Now that was a lot of fun!  Today, toilet paper is too expensive and it would be wasteful.

At the Hillbilly Hoe-down

Madonna & Howard Stern

Frankly, I don't see the point to trick or treating any more.  We did it out of necessity.  Now it's just begging.  I can understand why the elderly client I had was annoyed by the rudeness of that 5 year old.  She was demanding candy and didn't understand why it should be given to her.  Kids today already get enough sweets, they don't have the same hard up desire to walk for miles to collect candy to support their habit because their habit is supported by their co-dependent parents.  Now kids are driven trick or treating!  DRIVEN from house to house to beg for candy that their parents eat half of (and tell the kids that it wasn't wrapped properly so it wasn't "safe" - you know you do it).

Random use of figure skating costumes

Super Social Butterfly

I think we need more "fancy dress" parties instead.  Going to a fancy dress party allows you to let loose and get into a character.  It's a great way to break the ice and start conversation.  This is why we love to dress up.  It allows us to put on a social mask and let down our personal insecurities and barriers.

My personal favourite costume of all time was my "Super Social Butterfly" hero costume.  I love dressing up for any occasion.  Loved... past tense.  I love how Canadians get into Halloween - I do miss it.