Twelve U SPORTS women’s rugby players will travel to Aix-en-Provence, this June 10 to 12 to represent Canada in the 2024 FISU World University Championships Rugby Sevens.
Of the 12 Team Canada players, two come from the Queen’s Women’s Rugby team, Lizzie Gibson, ArtSci ’24, and Carmen Izyk, Nursing ’24—both integral of the Queen’s program.
Both players boast their own individual successes, Gibson being the 2022 U SPORTS Player of the Year and Queen’s Women’s Rugby all-time points leader, and Izyk being four-time U SPORTS All-Canadian, four-time OUA All-Star and Queen’s Women’s Rugby’s all-time tries leader.
Being such accomplished players, representing the nation isn’t a foreign feeling for the two. However, Lizzie Gibson emphasized the feeling being selected brings.
“[It’s] such an honour to be selected out of 12 people out of U SPORTS. [It] obviously, feels really good to be able to wear the maple leaf again,” Gibson said in an interview with The Journal.
Yet despite the success they’ve had together at Queen’s, their paths crossed before playing at the University on the international stage.
“Carmen and I have known each other for a while, I think like 2018. We went to the Youth Olympics together, […] we went to U23 together, so it feels really nice to keep that ball rolling,” Gibson stated.
Having an extensive playing background together has not only been good for the teams they’ve been on, but also for each other.
“I consider her like one of my best friends and going through the past five years with her has been honestly, so fun,” Gibson said.
“It’s going to be nice having the there with Carmen, and someone I can always lean on,” she added.
In U SPORTS and OUA rugby, Gibson and Izyk play 15s. However, with this being a Sevens tournament, there’s more ground to cover for each player on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. It’s a fitness aspect that takes some time to acclimate to, a fact Gibson acknowledged.
“It’s actually extremely exhausting, and a lot more fitness than 15s, so I’ve been just doing a lot more conditioning, and tempos are common,” Gibson said.
In addition to the physical aspect, it’s a pivotal time in Gibson’s rugby career. With big aspirations to play at the next 15s World Cup, the decision of which rugby tours to play in has been a big part of the mental preparation.
“I just been talking through all my options a lot, because it’s stressful right now. There’s two tours overlapping, so I don’t exactly know. […] what’s best for my rugby future?” she asked.
However, despite the challenges, a theme mentioned over and over was the she gets from the people around her. Whether it’s physically with strength and conditioning, with skills reviewing film, or mentally talking through decisions, there’s always a person to help.
“A big thank you to my coaching staff at Queen’s, all my club teams, and all the Ontario teams it’s really helpful having people that encourage you and push you forward,” Gibson said.
“My parents are very ive. My girlfriend’s really ive. I feel like ed outside mentally. So physically I can perform.”
Lizzie Gibson, Carmen Izyk and the rest of team Canada will play starting June 10. Live updates can be found on the tournament’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
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