Rugby Alumnae Continue to Make Waves at the Next Level

Last spring, we hosted the School Sport Nova Scotia provincial rugby championships on campus and our girls team came away with their first provincial title in 19 years! With such a veteran-laden and successful group last year, it is no surprise to see four members of that gold medal winning team join some of our other alumnae playing varsity women’s rugby in the university sports ranks. As the U Sports season kicked off this fall, we are so proud to see seven of our former student-athletes now on varsity rosters across the country.

Closest to home Kenzie Cecchetto ’18 enters her final year of eligibility with the Acadia Axewomen team. Kenzie, who was our former MVP, has also been a member of our coaching staff each of the last two seasons. Named captain of the Axewomen this year, ‘Coach Kenze’ is completing her bachelor of education degree and will continue her outstanding mentorship of young people as a teacher. Over the past two years, Kenzie has established herself as one of the strongest players in the AUS Conference.

In our provincial capital of Halifax, Heather Stanton ‘18 is also finishing up her final year of eligibility with the Saint Mary’s Huskies. Always a dynamic athlete, Heather plays center for the Huskies as she completes her bachelor of arts degree.

Rounding out our Atlantic contingent are three of our alumnae who call the beautiful campus of StFX University home. Last year’s rugby MVP and member of the first-ever Nova Scotia Rugby 7s team at this summer’s Canada Games, Maya Faucher ‘22 is a flanker on the perennial powerhouse X-Women team. Joining her is former teammate and last year’s female athlete of the year, Jill Griffith ‘22. Jill, who was selected to attend the Canada Games, but was unable to due to injury, has made an immediate impact for the X-Women and recently scored her first U Sports try and was named the player of the game in StFX’s victory over Saint Mary’s. Camryn Kleynhans ‘20, who actually helped coach both Maya and Jill here at KES, is one of the veterans on the X-Women team. Named rookie of the year for the X-Women last season, Camryn is a leader on and off the pitch for the white and blue.

Beyond our provincial borders, three more of our alumnae are also competing for their respective universities. In Quebec, former lifer and track and field mainstay, Mya Snarr ‘20 is suiting up for the Bishop’s University Gaiters. Perhaps the most intriguing of the lot, Mya never actually played high school rugby here at KES. In her Grade 12 year when she was hoping to give it a try, the year and rugby season was put on hold as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic. An exceptional athlete and hard worker, Mya joined the Gaiters as a walk-on last season, played throughout the summer in her home of Dartmouth, and is now a winger for her school’s squad.

Our final two alumnae Gala Holm ‘22 and Sarah Hardy ‘22 have been showing their prowess with the University of Western Ontario Mustangs and Queen’s University Gaels, respectively. Gala, who won our School Sport Nova Scotia Good Sport award last year and was a captain of both our team and the girls basketball team, has dressed and played in each of the Mustang’s first three games as a scrum-half. Our 2022 Female Scholar Athlete of the Year and former hockey star, Sarah has seen game action on more than one occasion for the nationally #1 ranked and defending national champion Gaels.  

With the addition of Mya, Sarah, Maya, Gala, and Jill, there are now 22 of our alumna who have gone on to play at the U Sport level over the past 10 years!

Another exciting note on the women’s rugby front was the news that highly decorated alumna Emma Taylor ‘10 was officially named to the senior women’s national team and will compete at this year’s Rugby World Cup held in New Zealand later this fall! Emma has become a staple within the Rugby Canada program, was on hand last spring to present the “Taylor Division” banner to our girls rugby team at our Invitational rugby tournament, and even sent a video message to the team on the eve of their provincial final match! Emma was recently interviewed by Sport Nova Scotia and spoke about the lead up to the world cup.