Student enters beauty pageant after breaking nose playing rugby
Rugby-playing student Erin Ferguson entered the Miss Sussex beauty pageant as a way of regaining her confidence following a broken nose.
When Erin broke her nose playing rugby for University of Sussex Women’s Rugby Club, she probably didn’t expect to enter a beauty pageant just two months later.
However, that is exactly what happened as she entered the Miss Sussex competition as a way of restoring her self-confidence.
Originally from Northern Ireland, Erin only took up rugby after starting at Sussex University, but her commitment to the sport can’t be questioned.
In the final game before Christmas, her team found themselves losing to Brighton in a big derby game. Determined to turn things around, she made a tackle but ended up breaking her nose in the process.
Unable to play, Erin needed something else to occupy her free time.
She said: “I still do my uni work during the day but I needed a new hobby. I was scrolling through Instagram and came across this post saying ‘could you be the next Miss Sussex?’
“I reached out to the director and asked how I could get involved. At the time I also hated how my face looked it was extremely swollen so I thought I may as well do something that helps me regain my confidence.
“I’ve always been the sort of person who does things like this, but since moving to university it’s been a new experience – I needed to do something that pushes me outside my boundaries.”
There are certain stereotypes attached to beauty pageants, but Erin is keen to emphasise that it goes beyond standing on the stage.
As part of the process she will have various training classes around what to do on the day of the final, but also has to engage in social media and charity work, the latter of which Erin is heavily involved in.
“It’s not just about the looks nowadays, it’s about the background work and what your why is. My main thing is about struggles to strengths, how do you overcome those struggles?” explained Erin.
“I have endometriosis and I’ve been suffering with it since I was about 14, so I’ve always been with endometriosis awareness and I always knew it was the advocacy I wanted to base my project around.
“Since coming to university I’ve also been an advocate for Period P project which is about donating products to the local areas that need it more.
“I also did Easter baskets for the local care homes as they were potentially going to be quite lonely and I know how much I was looking forward to my Easter egg!”
While Erin was already involved in a lot of charity work, having even started a period project at secondary school, she was less involved in social media.
However, increasing her social media presence as part of the pageant has helped her regain much of the confidence that she had before breaking her nose.
“1000% it’s given me confidence,” said Erin.
“I’ve been contacted by so many agencies. The amount of people I’ve talked to, the amount of interviews I’ve had, even doing Instagram lives.
“I would never have posted on social media so it’s been about almost ‘regaining’ my Instagram account and making it my own.”
Despite her successes so far in the world of beauty pageants, Erin is still targeting a return to rugby, particularly due to the social side of the sport.
When she moved from Northern Ireland, the society offered her not just a chance to be active, but also a chance to gain a group of friends. Recently, she also made hair bows for the team as a statement on women’s place in the sport.
“I feel like one of the main reasons I stuck with playing rugby was the group of girls and the coaches, it was such a friendly and welcoming society,” she said.
“The girls you are playing with are the reason you keep turning up. I’ll definitely go back after my nose is healed, even now I still go to social events and training to see everyone. I did the Brighton marathon for Cancer Research recently and so many of them were there to support me, it’s the best group of girls.”
The final of the Miss Sussex beauty pageant is on 22 June, by which time her nose will hopefully be healed, but she has certainly made the most of her time off the rugby pitch.
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