Winger

Rugby is so central to Ryan Dean’s identity that his position—a “wing”, of which there are two on a team, usually positioned on the edge of a play—is the basis for his school nickname “Winger” amongst his peers. Tellingly, Annie, a girl, doesn’t call Ryan Dean Winger but rather “West” or “Ryan Dean.” suggesting that his experience of sports is heavily male-centric. Rugby facilitates a sense of self-worth as Ryan Dean’s slight stature and young age become advantages rather than drawbacks on the rugby field, or “pitch.” For a “winger”, whose job is to get the ball and outrun an opponent to score a “try,” being small and quick is an advantage. Ryan Dean tells the reader, “I might have been smaller and younger than the other boys, but I was the fastest runner in the whole school for anything up to a hundred meters, so by the end of the season last year […] I was playing wing for the varsity” (11). The sport, therefore, provides Ryan Dean with an opportunity to use the traits he doesn’t like about himself in a way that helps him feel like he can contribute to a common goal.