Europe’s newcomers prepare for debut

Physical contact sport for women is nothing new in Turkey - wrestling is a Turkish traditional sport, and women have been competing internationally for nearly 20 years. However ??wrestling while carrying a ball?? (as described it) is very new.

Rugby in Turkey is not a major sport. A country of over 70 million people has only 15 men??s teams, and nine women??s teams (the Middle East Technical University (METU), Hacettepe, Samsun, Eskisehir Aqua, Eskisehir 222, Galatasary University, Trakya, Bostanli Spor (Izmir) and Lions (Istanbul)), all of whom play sevens.

However, rugby??s Olympic status is changing all that and for the first time a national women??s sevens squad will be selected after this weekend??s national club sevens.

With the rising profile of this ??new?? sport one of the most promising players - Basak Yuncu, who coaches and plays for the Middle East Technical University in Ankara (METU) ?? spoke to the local Anadolu Press Agency this week.

She began by attacking the perception that rugby is violent: "Rugby is seen as a dangerous sport from outside but there are no problems if you learn the right techniques. Training is very important," she said.

??A much bigger challenge is?˜money. The budget for rugby is limited ?? we have to buy all of our own kit, and I had to buy the team's rugby balls from my own salary.

??We also lack other basic resources ?? including a proper pitch ?? and have to use soccer posts as rugby posts.??

However, the Turkish women are nothing if?˜not ambitious:

"The National Women's Rugby Team will be selected at Turkey Women's Rugby Championship in Kahramanmaras in April 25-28, after which the players who were chosen will form a National Team to represent Turkey at the European Women's Rugby Championship in Slovakia's capital Bratislava on May 26-28."

??This will be really important. We need to move up the rankings very quickly if Turkey are to have a chance to participate the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics.

Turkey's international debut in Bratislava will be against Malta, after which they will play Lithuania, Bosnia & Hertzegovina, Finland and Norway on the first day.

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