The Glenfield Girls Get Nude!

There are those in the world who hold the misguided notion that women who play rugby are ugly, manly, and entirely unattractive. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you the Glenfield Senior Women's Rugby Club!

It takes a special kind of woman to hold her own on the rugby pitch. It's another thing entirely to hold your own (literally) against a camera, and that's exactly what the girls of Glenfield did this year to raise money for their trip to the Byron Bay 7's in Austrailia. The result? The gorgeous (and tastefully nude) 15-month Glenfield Girls of Rugby calendar.

According to Audrey Shearer, who plays lock for the Glenfield Senior Women's Rugby Club, the inspiration to do a nude calendar came from their sister club, the Capilano Club from Vancouver. "We had two of their players, Erika Oxenham and Vanessa Parente, come to NZ last year to play for us. When they left, they gave a copy of their team's calendar to our coach as a gift. We were very impressed with the whole idea." It took some serious persuasion, but Audrey talked her team around and convinced them that a rugby calendar would be a great fundraiser for them, as well.

To keep costs low and increase the fundraising power of the calendars, the team asked for the help of Sarah Williams, a friend and photography enthusiast. When asked if she would like to do the photos, she jumped at the opportunity to learn from the experience.

Audrey says, "That was the easy part! Getting volunteers from the team was a whole different ball game. We had to assure the girls that they only had to take off (clothes) what they were comfortable with. We organized to use the club premises, got a couple of experienced friends to do the make up, and basically.....we just winged it!"

Twelve team members agreed to be photographed. Emma was the first to be 'shot'. Audrey recalls, "She just dropped the robe she was wearing, sat on the stool and away we went! I have to say.....I think hers is one of the best photos of the whole lot. Such sensuality and grace!"

With the photos taken and ready to go, it was time to find some sponsorship to offset the cost of printing. "We sold space on each page to local businesses, and made a nice kitty. The printer, PDQ Print, was one that had had involvement in the club for many years and did the printing job virtually at cost," said Audrey. The team is hoping for a profit of $5000.

The Glenfield girls are proud of their 15 month calendar, and the race is on to get them sold in time to go to the Byron Bay 7's in Australia in October. Glenfield would love to have your support, and they'd love for you to have one of their nude rugby calendars! Copies can be ordered by emailing Audrey at afshearer@xtra.co.nz.

The calendars sell for $10ea, regardless of your location. Glenfield has determined that if you send the money in your country's currency (i.e. $10 US, $10 AUS or 10 pounds), it should cover postage because of the exchange rate. E-mail Audrey for more details.

Note from the editor: These ladies are phenomenal! If you order a calendar, consider throwing in a couple extra dollars for their hard work and pure guts! And if you're one of the ten people on the planet that doesn't know anyone who would love to receive one of these fabulous calendars, I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you sent them a donation anyway!