Daria Shestakova: “If Russia were suddenly reinstated into the World Series now, we would make it into the top eight, maybe even higher.”

Life After Rugby and New Ventures

Question: Daria, what are you currently doing?

Daria Shestakova: I serve as an ambassador for CSKA Rugby Club and am studying to become a TV presenter at Ostankino. As part of my studies, I`m attending various castings and selections. I also work at different rugby events and interact with sponsors.

Question: How did you find yourself at Ostankino?

Daria Shestakova: I spent a long time thinking about what to do after my career, even while still playing, because professional sports careers aren`t permanent. Then I looked in the mirror and thought, “My God! I was just born to be on TV!” (laughs). But seriously, I`ve always been interested in it. After trying it a couple of times, I decided to pursue formal education to gain additional qualifications in this field.

It`s still early to discuss prospects, as I have a full year of study ahead. I definitely enjoy it because what I did as a professional athlete is completely unrelated to this field. It involves communicating with people, speech techniques, how to work on camera, and how these programs are even recorded… I couldn`t grasp how it all worked initially. For instance, when four cameras are filming you simultaneously, and you need to turn at a specific moment and say particular words, your brain starts to work completely differently. Of course, I love it. It`s difficult, very unusual, but fascinating. It`s an entirely different world!

Insights on Russian Rugby

Question: What are your thoughts on the current Russian Women`s Rugby-7 Championship?

Daria Shestakova: A lot is changing. There are new and interesting teams like “Argat” from Ust-Labinsk and “Zilant” from Kazan. In my opinion, “Enisey-STM” needs to make some changes; something has been happening with them for a few years now. They were always in the top three; we used to play against them in finals! And remember “Krasny Yar” when Kazakova played there? They won the Russian Cup! Now, Bayzat Khamidova has joined “Krasny Yar,” and I hope she`ll spend a season as an assistant coach before becoming head coach. They need funding, and certainly, they need new players. They also require a symbiosis of experienced players with extensive backgrounds and new girls. Currently, they have adult players, but not at the same level as, for example, “Rostov-DSTU” with Navrat Khamidova and Anna Ermolaeva (Gotzeva). These players provide “Rostov” with crucial experience, at least for the club`s initial seasons. Let`s not forget that “Rostov” beat “Enisey-STM” last season! I believe age contributes to a player`s experience and work ethic, as well as the level at which they`ve played. What kind of experience does Navrat have from European tournaments and World Series events?!

Question: Is it possible for players to solely focus on rugby now, without needing an additional job?

Daria Shestakova: There must be motivation for players to attend training daily and cope with the workload, especially since after such exertion, you can`t do anything else. If it`s proper, effective training, you come home and just want to lie down. It`s impossible for rugby players competing in the Russian Rugby-7 Championship to work concurrently. This means there needs to be motivation for players, including in terms of salary, and a competent coach. Currently, if you play for a top team, you are essentially a professional athlete who only focuses on rugby. Even without playing for the national team, you can generally feel comfortable, or at least normal, let`s say. Of course, you won`t be able to provide for a large family, but for one person, it`s quite normal and sufficient. When Rugby-7 was included in the Olympic program, the situation began to improve for women`s rugby.

Memorable Experiences

Question: What`s the best stadium you`ve ever played in?

Daria Shestakova: Paris. Firstly, the field was incredible. Secondly, it`s a rugby nation. Dubai, of course, is top-tier. Sydney was also fantastic! It was truly amazing because it`s another rugby-loving country. Any stadium can be great, you know? But it`s the number of spectators who attend that creates the atmosphere. When you play matches, and there are already 40,000 people in the stands, what an atmosphere that is! It`s exhilarating, incredibly difficult to put into words, and absolutely unforgettable! But when you walk out, and there are only a handful of people, it`s disheartening. No matter how magnificent the field is, it won`t matter then.

Question: The number of people at Rugby-7 in the USA amazed me. When I went to the 2018 World Cup as a volunteer in San Francisco, I arrived a day earlier than you and took an Uber to meet the translator who was supposed to work with the Russian men`s team. I chose the cheapest fare, where other passengers might join. Both the driver and a young couple with me were planning to go to the matches. I asked if they liked rugby. Everyone replied that they were hearing about it for the first time but really wanted to go. You remember the crowds there…

Daria Shestakova: Have you ever seen how many people attend golf there? I`ve seen how many people turn up for anything and everything! That`s the thing — it`s like they have a cult. You have to go to everything happening in the city! Even San Francisco is a very big city. It was a top stadium, a top location, a top tournament. “Wow, a World Cup, amazing!” Our World Series stage was in Glendale. Does anyone even know where Glendale is? Maybe it`s something ingrained in the American mentality? There was a huge number of people in Glendale on the second day. Couldn`t even push through, couldn`t find a seat! Or the World Series stage in Atlanta? We played there in a tiny student stadium somewhere outside the city, and how many people came?

Question: Yes, my friends from New York flew in then to play an amateur match and also watch the women`s tournament…

Daria Shestakova: To give you an idea, my friend from Chelyabinsk, who has lived in Miami for many years, found out that Arina and I would be playing in Atlanta and drove nine hours with a buddy! His American friend convinced him to go. “It`s the World Series! Your friends are playing there!”

Question: You`re currently studying at Ostankino. Have you thought about how to attract people to rugby? It`s clear that when the “Sports Town” grandstand in Luzhniki is full, it`s mostly “insiders” who we almost all know by face.

Daria Shestakova: I can say that what Vasily Artemyev is doing with tag-rugby (non-contact rugby with ribbons) works. Essentially, it`s a business league, but these people start following the Russian Championship, the Premier League; they ask questions, they come to watch. This is the beginning. The more such leagues there are, the more people will become interested. The school tag-rugby league is a small gear that sets a larger process in motion: children become interested, and their parents do too. More and more people are getting involved in rugby. Here`s a very simple example. A couple of weeks ago, I gave an interview on “Govorit Moskva” radio. A few days later, I`m riding in a taxi, chatting on the phone about something. I hang up, and the taxi driver delicately asks if I`m an athlete, a rugby player, saying he watched the interview, really liked it, and I resembled someone. She even has a twin sister. It turned out he caught my interview, then went to look up when the games would be. He even asked for an autograph. It was so pleasant! Sometimes we don`t attach much importance to invitations, thinking, “Oh, our own people will watch.” But someone always notices something for themselves and starts to take an interest!

Question: You and Arina are very bright and memorable. Have you ever been recognized on the street?

Daria Shestakova: Strangely enough, yes! I`ll tell you one of the most brilliant stories; I love recalling it. It was truly so unexpected. I don`t know why popular people get annoyed and don`t want to take photos with anyone. This was after my first Achilles injury in 2023. I was in a terrible mood. I had just been discharged from the hospital, finished a very long course of antibiotics, and just felt awful. I was on crutches. A friend picked me up, and I said I wanted ribs to try and lift my spirits a bit. We went to Frank. I was wearing a cap, on crutches, with a black eye from the last tour. Everything was bad, my mood was atrocious. It was early May, and the veranda was open. Some man was standing near it, smoking. A waitress quickly walked up to him; I thought she was going to scold him or make him leave. But from him, she ran over to me, asked if I needed a chair, what I would like to drink. Lemonade? Excellent! Anyway, we met with friends there, ate, had a good time, and asked for the bill. The waitress then said the manager told them everything was on the house! And he wished me good health and CSKA only victories! The whole restaurant wished me good health. My friends were shocked, and so was I. Then the manager himself came over. He supports all CSKA teams and follows all competitions, so he was aware of women`s rugby. It was incredibly touching!

Career Path and Injuries

Question: A few classic questions: how did you and your sister get into rugby?

Daria Shestakova: We were sitting on a bench in the yard in Chelyabinsk, eating chips. It was 2014, just before entering university, and I still needed to pass some exams… My mom called and said: “Dasha, Arina, do you want to go to Moscow? Try yourselves in a sport like rugby?” We were playing amateur American football at the time. We were like, “What? What`s rugby?” But the trip to Moscow really enticed us. So we gladly agreed. We arrived at “RGUTIS-Podmoskovye” (now “VVA-Podmoskovye”). There was a coach there named Marat Ildusovich Minislamov. He conducted a seven-day training camp for us. We went through various tests. And right after that week, he signed a contract with us.

Question: By the way, a follow-up question: what was it like playing with your sister, first on the same team, and then against each other? (Daria and Arina played for “RGUTIS-Podmoskovye” from 2014 to 2019, but Daria joined CSKA in 2019)

Daria Shestakova: On the same team, it was completely normal. Even cool. It was less cool when we started playing for competing clubs. You already don`t want to injure anyone, and here you have to play against each other. And that… It was such a strange feeling: you kind of have to play, but you don`t want to hit your sister. I remember she called me and said: “Dash, well, let`s play clean tomorrow, alright?” I said: “Of course, Arina, what dirt? Let`s make sure everything is fair!” And the very first moment – I catch the ball on a rebound with my back to the defense. And someone just hits me so hard in the back. I tumble down, turn around, look, and she says: “What`s wrong? Well, what else was I supposed to do – you took the ball!” “Thanks,” as they say!

Question: This leads to another question. How was it when both of you were trying out for the national team, but Arina made the squad, and you didn`t? This was the first stage of the World Series, December 2015, Dubai (the Russian women`s rugby-7 national team reached the tournament final for the first time then).

Daria Shestakova: She made the main team immediately. I was called to the training camp in Dubai, but I didn`t make the team. It was disappointing. Of course, I was happy for my sister, but I was upset for myself. I would be lying if I said I was so happy that I didn`t make it, and she did. No, of course, I was very upset for myself then, I remember. “Why is this happening? What am I doing worse?” But everything changed very quickly. I worked very hard, and I was taken to the World Series stage in Brazil. So I didn`t have to grieve for long. But I was quite worried before the start of the Dubai stage. And then, at the hotel in Dubai, all my 112 dollars of daily allowance were stolen from my room, which we then got back together with you! (laughs).

Question: Are you planning to return to playing?

Daria Shestakova: I`m currently focused on restoring my health because I have a daily step limit, and after I exceed it, my legs hurt very badly. I`m in the rehabilitation phase right now. And, honestly, I tell everyone pretty much the same thing every day. If I manage to return, I will. If not, I don`t think it will be a secret to anyone – people rarely return after such injuries. For now, it`s even difficult for me to walk a lot. Both of my shoulders have been operated on – the right and the left. My right shoulder was operated on seven months before the Tokyo Olympics. It was an emergency recovery course. By the way, my shoulders don`t bother me at all now. If you`re asking if the accelerated recovery could have led to complications, no. After that, I played for quite a long time, and everything is fine. My elbow was operated on, with an Ilizarov apparatus. But that, by the way, was before rugby, so the elbow doesn`t count. But it was an injury. Yes, there were many non-surgical injuries. The truly global operations were two shoulders and two Achilles tendons.

Question: But you`re not even 30 yet. Both in CSKA and other teams, there are many players who are 35+ and have returned after maternity leave. 10-15 years ago, we considered Anastasia Mukharyamova (former captain of the Russian women`s rugby and rugby-7 national teams) a true veteran at 28…

Daria Shestakova: Yes, she was just finishing when we started. Well, what can I say? As long as they can run, let them run. Why not? If a person feels they haven`t finished playing. For example, take Alena Tiron. She returned after childbirth. Two rounds of the Russian Rugby-7 Championship have already passed. She played magnificently exactly one year after giving birth, scoring up to six tries in matches! If someone wants to, feels they can, and succeeds – why not? It`s awesome, actually. The other question is that now we really need to recruit and develop new talent. But again, develop with whom? Young players can`t just, like little ducklings, step onto the field and immediately start beating everyone. For instance, if CSKA fielded only a young team, and there was such an experience when my sister and I were commenting on the Russian Cup last year. What happened? They lost by 40 points to everyone. They tried to compete with some, but in any case, these are girls who still need to gain experience. Kira Aleshina, for example, performed brilliantly in the second team and moved to the first. She even plays in the Russian Championship now and scores tries. There are many talented young girls, but without international tournaments, how can they grow if not alongside our experienced veterans? Of course, the most important experience is game experience, but still, how much will they need to play to develop that game sense? On the other hand, training with players like Nadya Sozonova, Kristina Seredina, and other girls who have played rugby for ten or twenty years, at World Series, at the Olympic Games, and everywhere else – you can gain that experience. Kira Aleshina is a prime example of this. I`ve been sidelined with injuries for two years, otherwise, I would still be playing. We`ve been closed off for three years, playing only in the Russian Championships. The national team is clearly faltering. Nevertheless, the speeds in the championship are insane. This means the body can handle the pace of the game, speed, and power. If you can do it, why not?

Question: If we were suddenly allowed to play again, where would the Russian women`s rugby-7 national team stand now? Last year, you, Arina, and Daria Noritsyna (captain of RK “VVA-Podmoskovye”) went to the Olympics in Paris and watched the tournament live.

Daria Shestakova: In my opinion, it would be very difficult, of course. The recent World Series in Los Angeles had incredible speeds and tempo! I think that initially, we would perform well. This euphoria comes from having been sidelined for so long; everyone is ready to play, everyone has wanted to return for so long. Most national team players are those girls who competed in many World Series, and we miss it terribly. Among the newer players in the national team, only Nadya Medvedeva would be truly new, as Vika Em was already called up even before COVID. So, if we were suddenly reinstated now, we would make it into the top eight, maybe even higher. On pure momentum, so to speak. But after that, it would be very tough. Old leaders are in their places, “dark horses” like China are doing crazy things on the field, so it would be hard. Even thinking about the top four is difficult now. We would have to start from scratch. Not from absolute scratch, of course; we did achieve a lot, but still, we would have to build everything from the very beginning. We would definitely have to struggle at the bottom of the standings for about a year.