“I hated it,” Matthew Pearson recalls of his time playing rugby as a schoolboy. “It was very cliquey and I was always the last person to be picked.”
But now, on a warm Wednesday evening, the 40-year-old from King’s Lynn, Norfolk, is at a training session with East Anglia’s newest gay and inclusive rugby team.
Pearson drives just over an hour every week to take part in the sessions with the Cambridge Yales, which launched in June and is regularly attracting about 40 players from across Cambridgeshire and the East of England.
When taking a break from training at Cambridge Rugby Club, Pearson admits he knew little about the sport before his first session.
“I’m very much learning and I’m definitely enjoying it. The coaches have been fantastic,” he says.
Matthew Pearson travels to Cambridge from King’s Lynn every week to take part in the sessions [Elliot Deady/BBC]
Pearson praises rugby for being generally more inclusive than some other sports, but says he “wouldn’t feel comfortable joining a regular rugby club”.
“I am who I am and I don’t want to hide who I am.
“It’s getting people fit and enjoying a sport that used to be quite taboo if you were openly gay. It’s actually quite nice to be with like-minded people and be accepted, and there’s no ridicule or anything.”
Pearson, a student nurse, is not alone in that feeling. Many of his teammates are first-time rugby players who say they would not have joined a traditional rugby club.
It is a sentiment shared by a new wave of players across the East of England, which is now home to six inclusive sides.
‘Why we love LGBT rugby’, says players
Alex Meredith, from Ely, who co-founded the team, said he has long played with LGBTQ+ badminton and climbing clubs, but set up the Yales because he saw a need for a team sport in the area.
“I knew that other cities had inclusive rugby clubs and it was a sport I never really got the opportunity to get involved in much at school, unfortunately because I was rather bullied at school,” the 31-year-old says.
“I’d never even so much as seen a rugby game before setting up this club so I did have a healthy amount of imposter syndrome when I was doing it, but I wanted to get involved with something completely new.”
Alex Meredith is one of the Cambridge team’s co-founders [Elliot Deady/BBC]
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Meredith says he thinks gay rugby has taken off in the region “because it’s something that at school was quite loaded with perhaps masculinity and quite daunting for someone closeted at the time”.
Each training session teaches the players a new technique, such as learning how to lift their teammates into the air during a lineout, which is used to restart play from the touchline.
After a few wobbly attempts, the Yales are quick to master their new skill and are soon towering over the pitch.
Joe Beastall helped to promote the Cambridge Yales at the city’s Pride festival [Elliot Deady/BBC]
Among them is chairperson Joe Beastall, from Hardwick, Cambridgeshire, who has recently got back into the sport.
“It’s so fantastic to see people that I’ve known in Cambridge for years and years getting involved in something new and exciting,” the 33-year-old says.
He has been involved in the club since day one and, alongside its other founding members, promoted the Yales at this year’s Cambridge Pride.
Jonathan Howes, who lives in Cambridge, had been curious about playing rugby for a long time and was quick to join the club after meeting Beastall at the festival.
“It was never really something that I thought would appeal to me and now it’s a welcoming and inviting environment, so I thought I’d give it a go,” the 28-year-old says.
“I’ve really enjoyed it. Everyone here is really friendly and it’s just fun most importantly.”
Jonathan Howes had been curious about playing rugby for a while before he joined the Yales [Elliot Deady/BBC]
With the Yales continuing to gain more interest every week, what is next for the team?
Although the team does not have any fixtures in the diary, Meredith says it is only a matter of time before they are playing in a league.
“With the help of our coaches, hopefully we’ll be game ready soon,” he says.
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