View Park senior Kamora King began playing rugby during her senior year. During that time, she learned how to play in several different positions. King recalled her first game as being “intense.”
“It wasn’t something that I expected,” King said. “I learned to listen to my teammates and have an understanding of what’s going on.”
During her first game, she was a wing player. This allowed her to observe her teammates play at different positions.
“It was kinda cool to see what to do, when to do it, and how to execute,” King said.
Learning the sport was a challenge to King, but it did not keep her from competing. She had to adapt to the physicality of the sport.
“I played flag football when I was in middle school, but this is more so tackling and I was scared,” King said.
King also got assistance from one of her friends on the team to get acclimated to rugby.
“She’s been helping, telling me where to go, making sure that I’m okay after the games,” she said. “I feel like it makes the team stronger … if you have a team where it’s like a family, you play better.”
Along with rugby and flag football, King is the captain of the cheerleaders and the track and field team. She also joined a non-competitive golf club. The leadership skills she learned from being captain helps her with her rugby teammates.
“Even though on rugby I am not the captain, I can still help others that need help with stuff,” King said. “Help them push to do better.”
King knows that prioritizing academics is the foundation of being a student athlete.
“The sport is still a part of your life, but the work comes first,” King said. “If your work is not done, then you can’t be an athlete … if you don’t have certain requirements, you can’t play the sport.”
Her favorite class was a business class where she developed a clothing line that sold shirts and sweaters. While she learned business skills, King was able to express her creativity with her clothing line.
“We had to create our own business,” King said. “We had a market day where we sold the items that we created.”
In that class, King learned how to pitch ideas, ensure that consumers’ needs are being met, and get tasks done on time.
Along with academics and athletics, King is the arts and club’s commissioner for Student Council. In the future, King wants to become a lawyer.
“I want to go to Howard University, study criminology,” King said. “When I was growing up, I didn’t really have a voice … But if I’m working with a client as a lawyer, I can voice what they want to say.”
