Getting to know… Katrina Roszynski

We are excited to announce the appointment of Katrina (Kat) Roszynski as our new women’s Kelpies (2nd team) Head Coach and wanted to take the opportunity to ask her a few questions about her journey so far.

Position: 12 happily, 10 at a push if there is no one else, 7 with a bit of confusion but for the love of God please not 15.

Nationality/heritage: Born in Guernsey, grandparents are Dutch, Irish, Polish and German

Nickname: Kat, Button Nose

Secret Skill: I can lick my elbow

How long have you been playing rugby for: 15ish years

 

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background? (a little birdie told us you have a PhD…but please make it interesting 🙂 )

Yes, so of the last six years five of them have been spent studying for my Masters and PhD. The topics have been varied but in some shape or form they have looked at epistemology (wiki definition: Epistemology is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemologists study the nature of knowledge, epistemic justification, the rationality of belief, and various related issues). I’m interested in how the concept of knowledge is constructed, what counts as evidence and what (as well as who) is left out in Western discourse, both scientific as well as quotidian.
Prior to arriving in Hong Kong most of my traveling had been around Latin America. My undergraduate degree was Spanish and Philosophy, mid-degree I was offered the chance to live in Chile for a year, I took the opportunity and haven’t ever really looked back, going on to return there almost every year for ten years. Asia wasn’t really on the radar, in part because of the language barrier. One year on I don’t regret the decision to come over for a single second, despite being unexpected I have loved the experience.

How did you first get involved in rugby and what inspired you to play? I went to watch my brother play once and told him I didn’t think his team was very good (to be fair they weren’t great, but I think I was also a bit moody because my feet were cold), he replied that I couldn’t do any better. I bet him I could. I’m not sure if I am better, but I have been playing longer so I am going to say I won that argument. What other sport/activities would you be playing if you didn’t play rugby? Oh, good question. As a kid I gave most things a shot, tennis, netball, athletics, roller hockey (!?) but I was pretty average to below average at it all. Rugby was the first sport that made sense. Now I like hill running, if you can say that about something that burns intensely and then wipes you out for the next 12 hours. It is an inspirational sport as some of the older folk are absolutely belting along, with the younger kids trailing at the back. It’s the flipside for rugby, everyone younger and faster with better lubricated joints.

What has been your most memorable rugby highlight/experience over your 15+ year rugby career? (ideally a juicy rugby story)

Not sure it is a highlight, but in my top three annoying moments in rugby is playing Dicky (Sarah Monaghan)! One minute she would be there and the next you would be flying through the air, tackling nobody and chocking on the dust she left behind. Irritating and embarrassing.
I have a few hazy memories of a couple of tours but telling you those stories would be breaking the tour code.

How has your first year living in Hong Kong been, including playing for Hong Kong Scottish and coaching for Flying Kukris?

The first year has been a little wild, aside from the socio-political climate and Covid19, I came from a quaint little university town in Scotland with the rolling hills as my playground and everything I needed within a 20-minute cycle. The verticality of Hong Kong is something that everyone goes on about, but for good reason, it is quite a sight. The difference in landscape is pretty stark.

Despite arriving not knowing anything about Hong Kong, I have always thought playing a sport means having a ready-made community waiting for you (the most surprising place I have trained is in La Paz, Bolivia) and Hong Kong Scottish has been just that. The last season wasn’t quite what we had hoped, but how we build ourselves back up to fight for the opportunities that we know we are worthy of is all part of the challenge; I’m definitely up for it.

Coaching has been great; I haven’t done much for a long time so it is nice to get back into it. It’s mad to be part of young girls getting into rugby, working with the U16s feels like an important time to be using rugby to positively engage with some of the social pressures of being a teenager. I can remember being pretty awkward and weird at that age, so if I can help them work through that in any way, as well as building on their rugby skills, I’ll be pretty happy.

What are some of the big differences you’ve found between playing rugby in Scotland and Hong Kong? (other than the heat!) The 3G pitches! We have one in Edinburgh and initially I thought it was great, I had never run faster. Then, as we started to play I realised that the same principle applied to everyone else as I watched them fly past me. The other key difference is the public facilities that we play in, trying to work around this to create a professional approach to the game and a social buzz has been interesting and a new dynamic to consider. I am excited for some club plans that are in the pipeline for this summer though, watch this space… What do you eat before a big match and do you have any pre-match rituals? For years, probably well over half the time I have been playing I struggled to eat. I was worried about throwing up during the game and then after I was too tired which is pretty poor. I first started eating oats before because one of my teammates cooked it for me, the difference was pretty palpable – it tipped me over into an average player rather than just below average! In terms of rituals I don’t have any, although it wasn’t for lack of trying. I would read about other athletes doing various routines and give them a shot. One, I can’t recall who, always put the left boot on first, or was it the right. And that there is the reason why I don’t have a ritual, there is not a chance, from one week to the next, I would be able to remember the details.

What are you most excited about this coming season and why? The last year was about settling in, finding my feet and my role within the team. Moving on we can start to really cement some of the great combinations of last season both on and off the pitch. The girls are a riot! It’s a wee bit of a shame that the season didn’t get the close that would have seen us celebrate our efforts over the past year, moving forward we need to be thinking about responding quickly to any changes in our plans. How can we be celebrating each other and training hard around rules and regulations that interrupt pitch accessibility and social gathering? It’s a bit anxiety provoking, but if you press me I kind of love the chaos. What are you looking to learn / gain from your new Head Coach role? I have been trying to retire for about five years now! So I am looking forward to rethinking my position both on and off the pitch. I’m not sure I am always the best at communicating what I know, during a game, as much as possible, I try not to think too much. Playing is getting as close to prepared before match day so that my body can just do what it does best, without too many interruptions from my brain. This will need to shift as I work alongside others to identify skill needs, individual development pathways and team strategy. It will be a huge learning curve, but the girls will be there to guide me as we grow alongside each other. There is a pretty strong coaching team at Scottish too, I have already chapped on the doors of Kei Kei, Peter and Craig to share ideas and they haven’t turned me away, yet. Finally, and most importantly, if stranded on a desert island what’s your one survival item? This is a very scantily clad question; I mean what is the terrain? How far from other islands is this island? Was I stranded because of a plane crash or boat crash (in which case there would be some resources I could scavage)? In lieu of any of these details I would choose a book. I am not sure that it counts as a survival item in the typical (or practical) sense, but I wouldn’t last long without something to read. Maybe ‘War and Peace’ in Russian. Should take me a while to crack that.