I would like to introduce to you the very lovely and talented Barbara Mervin. She has been apart of the NSWT since 2004, and has been a huge impact in this team ever since the day she started. If you know her as a friend, met her in passing or played with her, you would know her presence does not go un noticed. Barbara can be seen organizing most of our fundraising projects, helping out at summer camps, coaching the Uvic Women's rugby team, being a brilliant fashion designer, transitioning between Rugby's 7s and 15s, and training up to 5 hrs a day. She does all of this, believe it or not, while maintaining a healthy well balanced lifestyle. Go Barbara!
Lets hear a little bit about the above from the "Swervin Mervin" herself.
Barbara, please tell us about your hometown, club, and you making the move to Victoria, BC.
Born in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Raised in Peterborough, Ontario.
Peterborough Pagans is my hometown club. The Pagans are an amazing club, I haven’t played for them in 6 years since I moved to Victoria, BC but they have continued to support me and I’m tremendously grateful for that. Velox Rugby Club is my home now. The rugby scene in Victoria is much different then Peterborough; national team players are a dime a dozen which makes finding training partners and world-class facilities much more accessible. I love both clubs and cities for different reasons.
Why do you play rugby?
Rugby brings so much happiness to my life. I know this because I’ve been injured a lot lately and I’ve been just miserable to be around. However, I’m back on the mend and feeling grrrrrrrrrrrrrreat! Rugby empowers me and gives me a sense of belonging and achievement. I also absolutely love the girls I play with, in fact so much so that I just realized I don’t have a lot of other friends. Last week the NSWT played an inter squad 15s game in Victoria and we didn’t have a lot of fans. The girls were asking me were my friends were, and I realized at that moment they were all on the pitch...but you know what? I believe friends are like high heal shoes. You don’t need a lot of them, just a few great quality ones. They will be worth a lot, they will bring you endless joy, they’ll make you look good, give you confidence and if you treat them right, you’ll have them forever. If you have poor quality ones, it won’t matter how great they initially make you feel or how many you have, you’ll be left hurting and eventually you will dispose of them.
What do you do in your free time?
In my down time I enjoy playing with my dogs and feeding the ladies, aka the chickens: Feather Lockler, Pecahauntus, Robert Redfeather, Yoke-o-ono, Cluck Norris and Egger Allen Poe. There were 7 but unfortunately 2Peck strutted a little too close to my snoop doggies…RIP.
What do you do for work?
I started a business called APTOELLA / RUGBY. Our goal is through innovation and creation of performance apparel, we inspire, celebrate, and empower female rugby players around the world.
Basically, I started a women’s rugby clothing line to make women and girls look good and feel great playing the sport they love. The business encompasses all of my passions and I have big dreams for the company’s future!
Tell us about the National Senior Canadian Women’s Team Calendar.
I organized that controversial NSWT nude calendar ☺
Why?
Why?
- To raise the profile and awareness of our successful team
- To raise needed funds for our team to become more successful
- To have my amazing teammates see the beauty of the countless hours they endured in the gym and on the pitch
- To make muscles beautiful to the public and to young girls who think they need to be skinny to be attractive
- To learn and grow as a entrepreneur
Will I do it again?
Not if my partner has anything to say about it!
I am definitely glad I did it, but it was a huge project with many challenges. Challenges that lead to great learning opportunities but also took up a lot of time. If the calendar reaches the goals that the team set out (and we are well on our way!), I think it’ll be time to pass the buck and let someone else have a vision and bring it to life. I would definitely still help out and support the production of future calendars, but right now I don’t intend to lead the project again.
Thank you Barbara for doing this blog, and everything you do for the program. Your efforts don't go un noticed, and they go above and beyond anything anyone would expect. Your an outstanding person and athlete. Keep up the hard work, big year ahead working towards the 2013 Russia World Cup.
You can follow Barbara @APTOELLA or contact her for any information about her business and how you can obtain some of her apparel!
