Top players in Wolfville
Three Acadia athletes competing at the U20W Tri-Nations Cup
Under-20 Women Tri-Nations Cup games being held at Acadia
Acadia University athletes Annie Kennedy, Harley Tucker and Valerie Wideski are at the top of their game, but hope the experience they gain at the U20W Tri-Nations Cup will take them even further.
While this is the first time all three have competed on a Canada U20 Women team together, it isn’t the first time any of the three girls have had the chance to compete on Canadian national rugby teams.
Tucker and Wideski competed, and won, last year on the U20 and U18 teams in the Can-Am series in Ottawa, and in 2016, Tucker and Kennedy competed on the U18 team during a tournament in England.
The three agree that because of the high skill level of their teammates, playing with this current team has been an experience well above those they’ve had in the past.
“The skill level is just through the roof, compared to what we play even at a high level like U Sports in our league, it doesn’t compare, because everyone’s just so solid,” said Kennedy.
“Their pass, catch, their tackling, there’s not a whole lot of room for error I find here, so it’s like the caliber for everything is higher, but it’s really fun, it’s fun to play in.”
Tucker added that she feels, because everyone is operating at such a high skill level, they’re all more able to rely on each other and focus on doing their own jobs — and so far, it’s been working, with the team winning the first game 36-12 against the USA.
“You put a lot more trust in your teammates too, coming from these smaller teams, everybody here is like the best on their branch of teams,” said Tucker.
“So, being able to rely on them and trust them means that you don’t have to do absolutely everything, you don’t have to make every other tackle, you can do your job and trust that they’ll have your inside if it comes to it, you know?”
Dreaming of the World Cup
Looking toward the future, Kennedy says that while having the opportunity to play in the TriNations Cup is a once in a life time opportunity, the possibility of playing World Cup is on the radar.
“I mean, definitely, I feel like World Cup is always in the back of your mind. When you’re at this level, going to World Cup is kind of the goal, it’s the highest level you can get for 15s,” said Kennedy.
“So, obviously, I think if you’re here that’s something on the radar. But just being here already, it really is a once in a life time sort of thing.”
Even looking beyond playing World Cup, Tucker says that once she’s finished playing rugby, it’ll always remain an important part of her life and she hopes to remain involved to help give kids the same opportunities that she had, which led her here.
“Even like extending it further, once you’re done playing too you can still be involved as a ref or a coach, and like a big thing for me a lot of my coaches have helped me through the levels and pushed me to be a better athlete and I want to give that back to other kids who might not have that chance,” said Tucker.