Some of Amanda Jardine’s Acadia rugby teammates are a decade younger than the 32-year-old. That has given them the licence to be merciless with her chosen nickname.
“They call me Grandma,” Jardine joked in a recent interview.
Other monikers that would fit include tough, tactical and born leader.
Just ask her coach.
“Yeah I would say she’s a born leader,” Acadia rugby bench boss Matt Durant said. “The fact that she’s older than most of the other girls on the team – and has more rugby experience and life experience – it makes her a great mentor for some of the younger players.
“She certainly has a much lower tolerance for bulls---. She doesn’t get caught up with the drama and is a good centering force for some of the younger, immature members of the program. She’s great in that respect. And she brings a tough, physical edge that some of the younger players may not have.”
Jardine, who’s based in Greenwood, is one of three third-year players who returned to Acadia this season despite the league being shut down.
Playing at the Wolfville institution was always a goal for Jardine since she graduated from West Kings high school 14 years ago, even if it was a mature student in her 30s.
Following graduation, Jardine couldn’t pass up an opportunity to join the military. She’s been in the air force for the past 14 years posted at CFB Greenwood as an avionics system technician, who are responsible for maintaining electronic systems onboard Canadian Armed Forces aircraft.
Her first two years following graduation she didn’t play the sport while in basic training.
“It was always my dream to go to Acadia,” Jardine recalled, “but when I graduated from high school, I had applied to the military and the door opened for me there.
“I went back to the pitch in 2008 and have been playing steadily ever since.”
When given the chance to take some courses at Acadia, her dream of playing varsity rugby had come to fruition.
Jardine, who plays club rugby in the Valley and has been a member of the Nova Scotia Keltics provincial squad since she was 15, felt she was prepared for the high-level competition of the university game.
“They are definitely super-fast and super-fit,” Jardine said of her Axewomen teammates. “They are just talented individuals. They challenge me to make my game and my fitness even better. But we mesh well. I can share with them my experiences. I’ve been playing as long as some of them have been alive.
“I saw it as a great opportunity to come onboard and add another depth of leadership for the program,” she added. “I have naturally taken on that leadership role.”
Durant, who first recognized Jardine’s talents when he refereed her games in high school, was confident she could easily step into the lineup.
“I’ve known her for a long time and followed her with the Keltics senior provincial program,” Durant said. “She’s been a lifer in the sport and a fit for our program.
“Too bad we didn’t have a season for year this season.”
While the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out all fall competition in the Atlantic university conference, rugby teams have made a return to the pitch.
Last month, the province announced it would ease restrictions around participants in performing arts, sport and organized physical activity. As of Oct. 1, a maximum 50 athletes are able to participate in organized sports without social distancing in the province, up from the previous limit of 10.
That allowed AUS rugby squads to increase the participation numbers in practices or stage intra-squad games.
“It’s super relieving for someone who has played rugby half of her life, to be able to get back onto the pitch,” Jardine said. “In 17 years, I have only taken two years off from rugby. For me, to think about potentially not having a summer season, not having a provincial season and potentially not having a varsity season was really upsetting.
“Even if it’s just practising, it’s amazing and I’m just grateful to be on the turf with the girls again. It was the longest time in 15 years that I hadn’t touched the ball. I was nervous. But I did a good job in staying shape and as soon as I put on my brand new cleats, which I bought at the end of last season, and we started running around and passing the ball, it was a huge jump in my personal confidence.
“You can work on your fitness but there’s nothing as intense and nothing gets your adrenaline up as much as it does being on the pitch.”
