Kish working to retain spot on sevens squad

The challenge of just making the team isn’t something rugby sevens superstar Jen Kish is used to.

Week in, week out, she has to prove her worth.

That didn’t used to be the case. She was the captain, after all.

But after leading Canada’s women’s team to Olympic bronze last summer in Rio, she took a step back this season.

“I’m back to that 16-year-old, not sure I’m going to make the team,” she said this week during a break in preparation for this weekend’s Canada Women’s Sevens in Langford, B.C.

“It’s nice to have that feeling again.”

After five years training and living in Langford near Victoria, the 28-year-old has relocated her life back to her hometown of Edmonton. That’s where her family, friends and, most importantly, partner Nadene are.

“I’m having my cake and eating it, too,” Kish admits about the arrangement, which her coach John Tait fully supports. “I’m able to be home with my partner and friends and family who I’ve missed for five years.”

And if she doesn’t get selected, she’s fine with that, too. That’s the challenge she’s accepted.

“I’m blessed to have a coach who believes in me, that I can maintain my fitness,” she says.

Training on her own in Edmonton is a challenge at times.

“I thought being centralized (in Langford) was tough,” she says. “But (in Edmonton), you don’t have anyone besides yourself to keep you disciplined.

“I have to train 100 times harder now.”

She knows how hard the 22 athletes in Langford are working under Tait’s direction.

“My teammates have these expectations. I hope I always meet them.”