Sukorói became the sports director of women’s rugby

– Since when did this sport become popular among girls?

– In Hungary, women’s rugby was officially introduced in 2000, and the sevens version of the game has been included in the international program as an Olympic number since 2016, which has proven to be beneficial mainly from the point of view of the education of the younger generation – Erika Hollósi-Szigeti answered FEOL’s question.

– What is the difference between the two versions, the seven and the fifteen?

– The most spectacular difference is that fifteen players play next to each other on the same court size in one version and seven in the other. The former is much more static, while the Olympic version is more athletic, dynamic, ball-like, without the elements of greater physical tension.

– Rugby is considered by many to be a violent and rough sport, even for men. Doesn’t this misconception scare girls?

– In recent decades, very serious progress can be seen at the world level and in Europe, everywhere they try to follow the rule changes, during which they pay a lot of attention to avoid sports accidents. Any movement directed at the head or the area above the shoulder line is severely punished, even such an intention is severely punished. By requiring more speed, the seventh version can keep a significant percentage of physical collisions out of the game.

– What role did Fejér County play in women’s rugby?

– Since I am now a member of the Skoro team together with my family, I can proudly say that three of our clubs deal with youth training, while Székesfehérvár plays a decisive role in the development of the women’s division in addition to the competition and training of the players. Since we can talk about international matches, although the number of players is constantly changing, there has not been a year that the clubs here have not added a player to the national team. Fejér is also considered a stable hinterland in terms of youth and adult rugby.

“How afraid are the parents of the girls?” Are they more vulnerable on the field due to their constitution?

– No. I can also say this because I played handball for a very long time, and I know that girls are not injured more often than boys in rugby, just like in handball. For us, the difficulty is not caused by the presence of physical contact, but rather by creating reassuring conditions for our operation in the sports with TAO support. This is awaiting development not only in the women’s, but also in the men’s field by the association. Spectator team sports under the Corporate Tax Act include football, handball, basketball, water polo, ice hockey and volleyball. Everyone can think that it is very difficult for us, as a small Olympic sport, to carry out effective recruitment work in addition to the other sports that require physical contact, handball, football, basketball and water polo. I ask everyone to bring their children, come and see what is happening here. You don’t have to convince the parent with words, but you have to make it possible for the children to try rugby. For them, there is also a form of the game without physical contact, i.e. the child can play rugby for years and only progress if he is physically and otherwise prepared for it.

– Where do we Hungarians stand in the international field?

– It happened this year that the women’s and men’s teams finished in exactly the same fifth place. European competition takes place in three divisions, one championship is the competition of the best 12 countries, there is an intermediate level and there is the so-called conference championship. This year, both men and women are stable participants in the intermediate league.

– What is the future of rugby in Hungary?

– At the moment, the focus is on increasing the number of people, we are trying to attract as many young adults to the sport as possible, even from other sports. We are working on this, and coaching training will be an important milestone during this work: we are in the process of starting a first-degree rugby coaching training course next year. But I must say that we have very serious work to do in all areas. If there are more players and a larger supply, then with the mobilization of adequate resources, it is not impossible for Hungary to appear in the European “TOP-12”.

“Do many people still confuse rugby and American football?”

– This problem is really present, although there are many differences, it is like the season and the style. In American football, the number of teams is much larger, the clock is stopped during the match for substitutions and other things. We don’t have protective equipment, the players only wear mouth guards and head guards. Actually, apart from the fact that the toy is egg-shaped, everything is different.

– Her husband, Gábor Hollósi from Székesfehérvár, they moved to Sukoró together. Did rugby really bring you together?

“Yes, it’s a very nice story.” We both worked with youth players and they organized a tournament in Esztergom, I was there to compete with the children. He brought the young players from his own club: there and then we met for the first time.