Mutrie on work with Right to Play

By Meghan Mutrie

Let’s quietly pretend it hasn’t been two years since the last time I wrote for Scrumqueens and just pick up like old friends.

A lot has changed; I’ve moved hemispheres, changed jobs and my skin now cruelly ticks spots AND wrinkles for its areas of concern. Awesome.

But as much as things have changed professionally, geographically and dermatologically, I’m just going to slot back in because really, they haven’t.

Rugby has presented me with another life-changing opportunity and because it was the Scrumqueens readers who were so supportive of my other blogs, I wanted to share this most recent news with you, as a little thank you.

So, things that haven’t changed:

I still cover rugby. I still squirm watching myself back on camera when I edit (even though I know it’s part of getting better). I still use duct tape and a tripod on a weekly basis (heads out of the gutter, kids) but I’m now living in New Zealand, working as a fulltime sports reporter for a TV show,The Crowd Goes Wild.

Another thing that hasn’t changed since 2009 is my affiliation withRight To Play Canadaas an Athlete Ambassador and my passion for their cause. I have volunteered at a few RTP events in Canada, always promoted their work internationally when I can, and initiated the partnership between the Canadian women and RTP in 2010.

In my head, not because of RTP, I always felt like I would be worth more to them as an Ambassador if I still played, but that insecurity, combined with some early encouragement from another AA, three-time Olympic medallist kayaker Adam van Koeverden, led me to stay as proactive as possible (and probably over-compensatory) with RTP.

It has been a distant dream of mine to go into the field with RTP and see first-hand the good work they do with children, but it’s actually happening.

I feel like a little girl who just took the pink bow off her new pony on Christmas morning.

RTP have invited me to Benin, West Africa to witness a few of their programmes in action. I am actually in transit now on a flight from Auckland to Tokyo, hammering away on my laptop like I’m wearing jars.

From Tokyo, it’s a short 12-hour flight to Paris and then a 6-hour flight down to Cotonou, Benin for five days. I’m expecting thighs for ankles.

I said yes before I even knew about this, but my heart soared when I learned the visit is possible because of the Canadian International Development Agency. A massive heartfelt thank you to CIDA for graciously funding this trip and I promise to work very hard to ensure your investment is worth it.

Before I selfishly launch anymore into my personal connection with RTP, let me explain more about them as an organisation and why most athletes and the general population can identify with their cause so strongly.

Right To Play is an international humanitarian organisation, which uses the power of sport and play to create positive social change in children in over 20 disadvantaged countries.

Sport is not RTPs end goal; it is merely used as the vehicle for development.

RTP operate on a-teach-a man-to-fish concept. They build sustainable models for sport and development in communities throughout the world aimed at children who would normally miss out on the opportunities and life skills sport accidentally provide.

I say accidentally because when children play they are totally oblivious of the by-products resiliency, determination, communication, teamwork, problem solving skills and self-confidence.

To them, it’s simply fun.

The same way RTP uses sport as a vehicle, they use their high profile Athlete Ambassadors to help promote their message, both in the field, at international competitions and wherever the AA hails from. Hundreds of Olympians and professional athletes have aligned with RTP, including Chelsea FC, Harlequins RFC, Will Carling, Lance Armstrong and Wayne Gretzky, to name a few.

Without seeming too self-righteous or preachy, sport has taught me a lot, too.

I’m not a professional or an Olympian, but I owe my life to sport thanks to my parents enrolling me in anything I raised an eyebrow at, sport has shaped me since childhood, through a life-alteringexperiencea few years ago, and even now - unsurprisingly my job still happily revolves around sport.

I haven’t really talked about that experience for a while and especially in New Zealand as I never wanted it to be a factor in an employers’ or the publics’ opinion of me good or bad. But if I’m being honest, it has changed me.

For the better.

It gave me the chance to rebuild and reconsider everything in my life to make sure it is there for a reason. I understand now that everyone has a story and that hardship is relative but it’s how one chooses to react to it that matters: happiness is a choice.

I have never been closer to my family; they and my friends are true heroes for standing by me during my recovery and now, even though my personality is a little different than what it was.

My old team, Canada’s NSWT, acted as my extended family for a solid two years, giving me a safe place to find my feet again until I was ready to be nudged from the nest.

The whole experience taught me how to feel gratitude at its deepest capacity.

Other children should have the same opportunity that I did - to have fun and accidentally build character simply by playing sport.

Wow. What sport didn’t do is help me master that brevity skill, clearly.

Let me explain how all of this interconnects before I lose you and it turns into a bad Grammy acceptance speech with cued applause. Somebody send Kanye to interrupt if it does.

Being asked to be an AA for RTP back in 2009 by Simon Ibell was the first good thing that happened to me since my brain injury. It gave me a glimpse of how good things could be and lifted me through a lot of my recovery with a goal to work towards.

One symptom of the brain injury was an unrelenting punch drunk feeling for two years and just a general disconnect to what was going on around me but, whenever I was working with RTP, I was always fully engaged and truly felt like myself.

Sport to the rescue, again.

And to bring this full, full circle (tell Kanye to sit down), Scrumqueens (Ali, really) was the first website to give me any sort of voice so it seemed more than right to approach her when I was looking for somewhere to share my RTP Benin field visit with.

I am going to Benin with RTP on behalf of Rugby and I really hope I do a good job representing it, as I believe there is enormous potential for RTP to expand into such a global community.

Plus, I think the two have a lot in common. Rugby people = the good sort.

By giving RTP as much exposure as possible, my personal goal is to help facilitate more leaders within the international rugby community to get involved as Athlete Ambassadors.

Armed with more recording devices than an episode of that (god-awful) TV show, Cheaters, I sought out a few media outlets and will be providing TV coverage for The Crowd Goes Wild, Sky Sport NZs RugbyCentre and for IRB Total Rugby TV.

I’m honestly a little nervous that I won’t be able to truly convey what I get to see with my own eyes.

I have my itinerary so I know what I’m doing, but I have NO idea what to expect. I’ve actually Mr. Sketched my mind of any expectations but I imagine this trip will be quite emotional and very humbling.

One of the school visits on my Benin itinerary has me spending a morning at an all-girls school. I purposely bought a copy of the UK Rugby World because there’s coverage of the women’s Six Nations. I’m excited to meet the little girls and hopefully empower them by showing them pictures of what women can be capable of.

The itinerary says I’ll be doing at least one school visit a day as well as sitting in on meetings of the local RTP offices with development officers and coaches. I am also going to a voodoo temple (Benin is seen as the home of voodoo) and the Gate of No Return, one of four gates in Africa were slaves were gathered before being transported overseas.

Before I left, I told my dad that I wished my eyes were connected to his TV so he could see what I get to, but I’m making a public promise to myself to not just see this trip through a viewfinder. I will put the cameras down and allow myself to experience this as humanly as possible.

And then I’ll worry about how to package it so I can be everyone’s eyeballs! I hope you get a chance to witness the power of sport and play in the direst of places but, thanks to RTP, the persisting joy of children who are allowed to play, regardless of their circumstances.

RTPs slogan: When children play, the world wins.

Meghan will be tweeting throughout the week about her experience and writing a second blog and providing pictures for Scrumqueens on her return to New Zealand. For images of her trip to Benin seehereFront page image thanks to Jose Romelo Lagman.