This is the first in a series about women who play aggressive sports. We begin with rugby.

The whole idea of tackling somebody, seeing somebody get hit, it just appeals to me,? said Gem Edwards, who is tackling the stereotypes of women in aggressive sports.

Gem, captain of a female rugby team, the Caribs, is among the growing number of women who are not leaving aggressive sports like rugby only to the guys.

The first time the 25-year-old hurt another player during a match, the girl went home with whiplash. Gem said she never hits with the intention of hurting because she does not want to get hurt herself.

?I get bruises on my hands and knees but I just brush that off,? she said. However, in a game which is much like American football without the padding, injury is almost certain and her knee which has been damaged since last year stands as proof.

The unexplainable rush that keeps her coming back can be because of biological reasons.

?The adrenaline rush, the euphoria which takes you away from the humdrum of life,? said Sidney McGill, clinical sexologist, is one of the reasons people are drawn to aggressive sports.

High testosterone

Dr. McGill also explained that high levels of testosterone in men and societal expectations contribute to them craving aggressive sports. In women the same is true.

However, the same aggression which keeps her coming back keeps others away. At her former school, Excelsior High, both sexes were given the opportunity to play. ?When dem start get the lik,? Gem said, the girls team quickly dwindled, leaving her and a couple of other girls to play with the boys.

Her perseverance has led to her playing for the last 10 years and she has heard all the stereotypes that go along with it.

When the team gets dressed up for a night on the town people are shocked to hear they are rugby players as they expect them to be ?tuff?.

When she tells men she plays rugby the response is usually, ?That means if we get into an argument, you?re going to want to beat me up,? she said.

But aggression is not a part of Gem?s everyday life. That is left for the game.

However, not everyone agrees with women like Gem who even chose to play such sports.

Men say:

James Pryce, a 35-year-old native of Guyana, thinks women should leave aggressive sports alone because they are physically delicate.

This sort of sport, however, is embedded in men. ?That?s how men showed their superiority in the olden days and it still stands now,? Mr. Pryce said.

However, he has no problem with women playing games like
soccer where the rules protect players physically.

He added that he does not like the physique which many of these women develop because of these sports.

?They look too much like men. I like to feel softness against me,? he said.

However, Phillip Morgan, who has represented his country nationally in rugby and still plays for the Jamaica Defence Force, disagrees.

?I think it?s very nice to see a woman play rugby. It?s not all about their hair and nails. It?s raw and dirty, back to nature,? Mr. Morgan said. ?It takes a bit more than physical characteristics to play the game and be committed to it.? He added that most girls who get involved in the sport are from inner-city communities and are simply trying to uplift themselves.

Dr. McGill concurred, saying that women get involved in such sports to prove to themselves and society that they too can achieve something which had previously been domi-nated by males.

Gem, who is currently unemployed, hopes to someday make a lucrative career out of rugby but she believes that for the most part, female rugby is not taken seriously in Jamaica. Sponsorship and even time off for players to attend matches abroad are hindrances to keeping a team together.