RABBLER OF THE YEAR, HER JOURNEY.

If you ever meet Phoebe on the pitch you will probably notice her flash past you in a burst of speed, as she effortlessly tags you and continues – no sweat.

She is a pocket dynamo, she can just keep going. What you see is a result of two years of play, Phoebe’s progression has been striking and a real testament to her hard work and dedication. Last year she won Rabble’s Rabbler of the year, voted by the other players who’ve noticed her progress, but also her humble, quiet nature and her brilliant dry sense of humour.  A die hard Finsbury park player, she’s a pleasure to have on the field, always up for a challenge and never gives up. We asked her to tell us about her journey over the past two years:

My Rabble journey first began exactly two years ago now. My mum had actually read an article about it and mentioned it to me thinking it would be something I’d enjoy. I had never been a sporty person at all and wasn’t a big fan of team games, however I was keen to give it a go and try something new. After all, it was definitely a change to plodding along on a treadmill or going to the occasional Zumba class.

I went along to my first Rabble session in Finsbury Square on a particularly cold, dark night in March. I had no idea what I was signing up for and was close to cancelling the session and going home. I was welcomed by Charlotte, who if I remember correctly, was dressed as a pumpkin at the time for her 40 days of fancy dress challenge! She then introduced me to a bunch of friendly regulars who had obviously been going a while. At first I felt a bit out of my comfort zone; I was really slow, unfit and embarrassingly out of breath in comparison to everyone else. That aside, by the end of the session I really enjoyed it and felt proud of myself for going alone when sport clearly wasn’t my forte.

I signed up for more sessions and tried out Finsbury Park on a Saturday morning as it was much closer to home. I started going to one or two sessions a week until during the Summer I suddenly got hooked and at one point I was going several times a week. I had finally found a form of exercise I actually really enjoyed. I noticed that the more sessions I went to the faster and fitter I became and when others also started noticing this it gave me that extra boost of confidence I needed. I also started to get more competitive, a streak I never knew I had in me!

I am now a regular player and attend 4-5 sessions a week (if you count the back-to-back session on a Sunday as 2!) My friends, family and colleagues think I am slightly crazy and verging on obsessive but there are worse things to be addicted to right?!

Rabble has now become a big part of my life, aside from my day job as a Marketing Executive at STA Travel. I always look forward to going after a busy day at work and I have met such a lovely group of people. Everyone is so friendly and there are so many social events going on all the time – even a ski trip which I will be going on this month!

I love that the games we play are so varied. The old-school classics such as British Bulldogs and Dodgeball are a couple of my favourites but I also love sprinting into bases without getting tagged. You would be surprised how much strategy is involved to avoid getting caught by your opponents! The games are also extremely fun and an amazing workout at the same time – basically a win-win situation!