LETHBRIDGE – Nicole Ronsky had an award-winning season with the University of Lethbridge women’s rugby team, but she admits a call from Team Canada caught her by surprise.
“It was kind of out of nowhere,” said Ronsky. “We were really just focusing on our Pronghorns season and we were just trying to be the best we could be in the country for that, and this kind of came out of nowhere, so it’s exciting.”
Ronsky, 21, was named to Canada’s Maple Leaf roster for the HSBC Women’s Sevens Series tournament next month in Dubai. It will be the national team debut for the fourth-year Pronghorn wing.
A Calgary product, Ronsky was named a Canada West all-star, a CIS second team All-Canadian and a CIS championship tournament all-star this season, leading the ‘Horns to a surprise berth at the national championships earlier this month.
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“Coming back from nationals is where I started hearing a couple things about it,” said Ronsky. “It’s really an awesome opportunity, but it couldn’t have been done without all my coaches and teammates and administrators from our school.”
The Maple Leafs are a development team, marking the first international action for most players. The club will face squads from South Africa, Belgium and Fiji on the first day of the tournament that runs Dec. 3 to 4.
“I’m really excited to play with some of the top players in the world,” said Ronsky. “I just really want to learn from all of them, so that’s a really cool opportunity.”
Ronsky has been named a Canada West all-star each of the last three seasons.
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