U Sports pipeline providing Olympic medal-worthy talent to national women's rugby program

Carissa Norsten sits below her Olympic silver medal, which dangles from a shelf in her bedroom.

As she speaks about the experience with Canada's women's rugby sevens team in Paris, it's clear that the sparkle in her eyes is due to a reflection from that hardware — in one way or another.

But when Norsten, who turns 21 in November, is away from the national team, she continues to compete at the University of Victoria. Her squad is one of eight headed to UPEI for the national 15s championship, which begins Wednesday with live coverage beginning at 12 p.m. ET on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem.

For Norsten, the Paris experience would not have been possible without her time in Victoria.

"It was a huge step in my rugby journey," she said. "If it hadn't been for U Sports, I probably wouldn't have pursued rugby the way that I did."

The women's rugby sevens squad is one of few national teams which utilizes U Sports as a development pipeline. Five members of the silver-medal group in Paris are active student athletes, while 11 of 12 competed in U Sports at some point.

Norsten said her fellow Vikes on the national team will always take a picture together on the field, as will current and former UBC Thunderbirds players. Most rugby players head west since the sevens team often centralizes in Victoria.

UBC beat Victoria in the recent Canada West championship game, concluding a tournament which included five members of the Olympic team.

"Everyone is so intertwined in all levels of rugby that it is kind of like a family. You get to play with players who have way more experience than you. Some players are just starting rugby and you just get to gain confidence and experience through that," Norsten said.

The connection between U Sports and the national team began in 1998, when women's rugby was first recognized by the national university sports body as a varsity competition.

It's a relationship that's evolved since then, with the latest development Rugby Canada's move to a one-squad philosophy in which players maintain pathways to both the sevens and 15s teams.

"There's lots of comms going on between all of us and having it be one squad, I mean, that's what it's all about. We want players to be able to get the most out of their lives and be able to invest in themselves in different parts of their lives," said Jocelyn Barrieau, who took over as the national women's sevens head coach in September.

Barrieau, who previously coached at Concordia, has been with Rugby Canada since 2023 and was also an assistant at the Olympics.

She said she plans to be at nationals in PEI, and that the yearly event is "immovable" on her calendar — barring a pandemic.