TIANA GORDON AND SOCIAL CONNECTION

Like many female rugby players, Tiana Gordon experienced the game for the first time at university. She went to a ‘give it a go’ session at LSE soon after a foot operation, so found herself walking around the pitch, trying various new drills and meeting new people. This element of community is what draws many students to play sport at university. Social connection went on to become a big part of Tiana’s professional life and connect her to Oxford University a few years later. Many studies, including one recently concluded by Mill Hill, demonstrate the “significant positive correlation between increased sports participation” and “enhanced academic performance and overall [...] wellbeing.” The value of joining OURFC is therefore not only found in the community, but also in the academic success and personal health benefits which are a result of participating in sport – in particular, rugby. 

With six weeks still to go in her recovery from this foot operation, Tiana missed the first few games of the season. However, she improved enough over the course of her first year to become captain in her second and merit an introduction to Gisele Mather at Wasps. She attended a “humbling” preseason and camp in the Alps the summer before her third year and decided to focus on her studies before pursuing a professional career after graduating. As is the case for many students who immerse themselves in sport while at uni, her mother would say to friends that Tiana “studied rugby – and also did law”. 

She continued striking this balance in the next few years as she spent 2-3 days a week working towards a master's degree in law while playing for Wasps. While managing these time commitments was demanding, playing remained a source of exercise which released endorphins and left her better equipped to handle her academic load. The routine of training is beneficial to many of the players at OURFC, safeguarding time in their day to be social and active without feeling the productivity guilt that comes hand in hand with an Oxford degree. 

At this point, the PWR (Premiership Women’s Rugby) had not yet been established, and clubs could enter two teams into the existing premiership competition. Tiana rose through the ranks over the nearly three years she spent with Wasps, moving from the 2s bench to making appearances in the first team. Looking back, she can see how much the women’s game has grown, particularly through social media. Then, the only women’s game really available to watch was the 2014 World Cup England v Canada Final on YouTube, while getting to know other players came through personal connections more than famous figures. Tiana describes the women’s rugby “ecosystem” as more difficult to appreciate, simply due to lack of exposure and publicity.  

In the past few years, women’s rugby has done well to harness the power of social media, increasing the profile and visibility of the sport through creating content which engages fans and offers personality as well as sporting excellence. Ilona Maher is an obvious example as the most digitally popular rugby player (male or female) with 4.9 million followers on Instagram. This online community creates an element of the social connection that can be found in physical clubs, creating spaces in which women with similar interests can engage with each other as well as allowing fans to keep up with sport updates. There has also been backlash, most recently against Jasmine Joyce-Butchers, a Welsh player who was criticised for making videos with England prop, Sarah Bern, after losing the Six Nations game against the Red Roses. Joyce-Butchers' statement embodies the reason that so many female players engage with social media: “Yes I am upset, gutted, sad and disappointed with the result, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be happy, excited and smiling to see such an amazing crowd supporting us”. The rise in women’s rugby is an example of the increase in physical activity around the country, with Sport England finding the highest number on record in their most recent research. The highs and lows of university sport are similar, with the team culture making losses a valuable part of the process. The resilience that playing rugby fosters in our players leaves them better equipped to handle the pressures of the professional world, while also encouraging reliance on a team as well as individual responsibility and performance. 

Tiana describes herself as a “learner” - someone who is always keen to know and learn as much as she can. During the pandemic lockdowns, she reconsidered her career in legal technology as she tried to find her true purpose and meaning. Like many of us, she was also confronted with considering her mental health when removed from the distractions of the outside world. From the age of fifteen, Tiana had been conscious of her own mental health, but at this point she began to actively work towards awareness of other people’s, completing a part-time postgraduate diploma on the Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health. She found herself having lots of conversations about “social connection”, from individual relationships to wider society and social media. Tiana comments that the quality of your social connections are the “biggest predictor of a fulfilling, long life” but aren’t often spoken about in health circles. 

University and college rugby are brilliant opportunities to build and strengthen these social connections. In the college system at Oxford, it can be difficult to meet people outside of the immediate circle of your college and department. For students with degrees that don’t promote interaction, this becomes harder still. OURFC therefore becomes a chance to meet people with similar interests and often similar temperaments and widen your support network. Regular training and socials contribute to creating a community as well as a performance environment. Within the college system, rugby is similarly social, an opportunity to exercise and bond with friends (particularly over fierce rivalries). 

When looking for opportunities to take her interest in interpersonal interaction further, Tiana came across the “Psychology and Social Connection” summer course at Lady Margaret Hall. The programme was condensed into an intense few weeks, similar to term time for many Oxford students. Tiana has gone on to combine her interests with Peak Team Performance, where she works on sporting relationships. She is particularly focused on the coach-athlete relationship in team sports where there is an individual dynamic as well as that of the Head Coach role overseeing so much of the player’s experience with their sport. When this relationship isn’t strong, it can have huge consequences on mental health as well as performance, meaning that Tiana’s work on coach development has direct impact on team performance. 

She aims to build strong teams through maximising cohesion and wellbeing, ultimately creating the best experience for players. A recent systemic review, looks at 8528 articles, supporting Tiana’s findings: “participation in sport [...] is beneficial for improving mental health and social outcomes amongst adults”, with an even stronger correlation present for team sports. Benefits included were: “higher self-esteem and life satisfaction”, “reduced levels of depression, anxiety, and stress” and “improved self-control, [...] communication, and fostering a sense of belonging”. Tiana concludes with the statement that “winning well is what the future looks like”, working from wellbeing up into team relationships and performance. 

We look forward to welcoming her into the OURFC community as she continues to balance playing in the PWR (she is now a Leicester Tiger) with helping teams maximise performance through wellbeing. The importance of social connection is something that cannot be understated in a modern world where 20-year-olds in the US and UK now spend 2 more hours alone per day than in 2010. John Burn-Murdoch's graph in the Financial Times also demonstrates that an average 20-year-old now spends as much time alone as a 60-year-old. These statistics are incredibly concerning for a generation who are becoming isolated from their communities through the seductive nature of media which is designed to be passively consumed. Now more than ever, activity and social connection are incredibly important for students under pressure, and rugby at OURFC offers the perfect combination of both.