On the pitch for Georgia Tech |
Ros further went on to compliment Lara's rugby 7s abilities as a playmaker and finisher, that she was one of the few collegiate players that had earned a spot on the Atlanta Harlequins competitive 7s side this summer. Lara surpassed expectations in her first qualifier tournament, Atlanta's Midnight 7s, where she led the 'Quins in scoring for the day! The switch from collegiate rugby to women's club, especially with a WPL team, is not an easy transition to make. That Lara fit in so seamlessly speaks volumes.
Georgia Tech 15s |
Lara will be traveling to Calgary having just spent time with the Women's Collegiate All American East Camp the weekend prior to this. She is currently one of many Stars players attending the Serevi Elite Residency Camp at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista. Just today we learned she was selected for the Women's Collegiate All American squad and their own Canada tour later in July! We cannot wait to see what Lara brings to the team at Stampede 7s. It bears noting that this is a homecoming of sorts for Lara, who spent part of her childhood in Winnipeg.
Here's her profile in her words:
.
I'm going into my fifth year at Georgia Tech as a biomedical
engineering major and am graduating in December. I'm currently interning
at CareFusion as a product engineer working with hand-held surgical
instruments. I started playing rugby my freshman year in college after
growing up in Winnipeg and Atlanta playing hockey, softball, baskball,
track, and swimming.
I started as a lock until our backs coach, Rosalind
Chou, saw me and thought I could be more useful in the backline. I then
played inside center or flyhalf for my junior and senior year. Last
summer, Georgia Tech started a sevens team that went to CRCs in
Philadelphia and then the USA Rugby Collegiate Sevens National Championships in Greensboro, NC. For the latter tournament, I was named
one of the 8 players to watch which was very exciting! After spraining
my ankle during our game against Norwich on the first day, I was unable
to play in the final games, however, I was still very proud of my Yellow Jackets!
At USA Rugby Nationals |
I love playing great teams and being challenged
by them and learning from them. It was a great way to end my rugby
career at GT and a great start to my career on the Atlanta Harlequins
7s and 15s team in the fall. Last year, I was invited to the U-20s
camp in Atlanta and this past weekend I attended the Women's Collegiate All-American Camp where I met Swift and Kim and a lot of other amazing
rugby players. Next week I will attend the Serevi Elite Residency Camp
and I can't wait to spend a week playing and learning more about 7s
before heading out to Calgary with the Stars where I'll have some family
members who live nearby coming out to support!
At the Olympic Training Center |
I also asked Lara for a recap of her experience at the WCAA camp and here it is:
The
WCAA camp was a 3 day camp at James Madison University in Virginia where we had 2 practices a
day with a lunch break in between and a required ice bath afterwards
with all of the free Gatorade products we could ever want (yay for
sponsors!). The practices focused on offensively creating space and the
importance of trailers, contact body position and form, and defensive
alignment and communication. The practices always incorporated "games"
of some sort which made it even more fun and competitive. Then there was
a team meeting where we talked about different defensive strategies or
we had time with our team to strategize and prepare for the scrimmage on
the final day.
Breaking the line on the way to a try with the Atlanta Harlequins |
Then on Sunday, we had our scrimmage of blues (dark
side!) vs. pinks. It was so much fun playing with all of those amazing
rugby players who knew what to do and when to do it and I felt that
playing with such high level players really helped elevate my game as
well. It was an amazing experience and I had so much fun meeting
everyone from all over the country and getting to play with some of the
best collegiate players out there. I wish I could go again next year!
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