By Jeff Gard/Today’s Northumberland
Being back on the rugby pitch for a regular game felt great for Grace Jenkins.
It didn’t matter that she broke her nose while taking a knee to the face from a St. Mary Thunder teammate as she tried to make a tackle during that season-opener in Campbellford back on Oct. 1.
“I hadn’t played a game since ninth grade so I was really excited to get back out because I had made lots of improvements since then,” Jenkins said. “I wanted to go out there and see what I could do.”
Jenkins, who plays rugby at St. Mary Catholic Secondary School in Cobourg and provincially for the Ontario Jr. Blues, has a lot to be excited about. The 16-year-old Grade 11 student from Port Hope has been selected to join Rugby Canada’s Development Academy. The goal of the Academy, a partnership between Rugby Canada and Rugby Ontario, is to prepare prospective players for national teams in the future.
Jenkins’ selection comes after training with the Jr. Blues U16 team during the summer before attending a combine for the Rugby Canada academy in September.
“My dream has always been to go to the Olympics so this is just one more step to get there,” Jenkins said, noting she believes her “work ethic” helped her stand out. “No matter what I’m always going to try to go for that ball, run one more step or hit harder or whatever it is to help my team out.”
While Jenkins, who is also an accomplished gymnast, continues to build her rugby skills, St. Mary Thunder senior girls rugby coach Shawn Carmichael said she has a lot of people rooting for her because of her positive attitude, genuine demeanour and strong work ethic.
“Teachers love her, classmates love her, teammates love her,” Carmichael said. “She’s the real deal. It couldn’t happen to a better kid. She works for it. Her overall fitness is spectacular.”
Carmichael, who also coaches with Rugby Ontario, heard from other coaches that Jenkins was one of the top players in each of the skills tested at the combine.
“In the eight or nine skills that they tested, she was off the charts,” Carmichael said. “She was overall the fittest person there.”
Her gymnastics background certainly helps with fitness, focus, determination and dedication as her rugby skill set continues to grow.
“She’s a team player, she’s willing to learn, she’s like a sponge,” Carmichael said.
When learning the sport in Grade 9, she mostly played on the wing to help prevent injuries that could derail her gymnastics training. Now with Rugby Ontario and St. Mary, she can play any position, Carmichael noted, add that her passion for the sport has continued to grow.
Jenkins is a Level 6 gymnast, which is right below the national level for competition.
“It gives me all the fundamental skills and also enables me with the focus and the drive and determination,” she said. “So not even just the physical skills, but the mental abilities.”
Her father, Scott, is a personal trainer, which helped her stay in shape during the pandemic. She relished the opportunity to get back on the field during the summer with the Jr. Blues for training and intrasquad games.
“I was training on Sundays for about three hours in Whitby,” Jenkins said. “I went to Guelph a couple of times, too, to train with the girls from (western Ontario). We just worked on all our skills hoping to make improvements for this season.”
With the Rugby Canada Development Academy, Jenkins will train at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre in Scarborough, the same site of the Canadian Sports Institute of Ontario. She made a great impression to earn a spot at the academy.
“From my standpoint she’s very athletic, she works hard and is a keen learner, goes out of her way to get a better understanding of the game,” said Sandro Fiorino, lead coach of the Rugby Academy. “She’s very coachable and attentive during the sessions we’ve had. She’ll definitely focus on developing her skills in the training environment, but she is very explosive.”
In training, the focus will be on three key areas, Fiorino noted.
“One is the body, so physical preparation. There’s resources there for her to build her strength and power with (the strength and conditioning) coach. We have a medical staff that will ensure that she’s progressing in that department,” he said.
“We’ll focus on some technical-tactical with skills coaches there that will focus on her skills related to the game of rugby and also a better understanding of the game. We also have other support like nutrition and mental performance so that the athlete is receiving a full encompassed focus on preparation. As a culture there we really want to focus on making these adults better people throughout the whole process.”
Fiorino said most young athletes, like Jenkins, have aspirations to reach a big podium such as at the Olympics. The key is to be patient and to maintain smaller goals within sight.
“At this early age, we really just encourage them to find their next podium, even if it’s winning at their provincial rugby fall tournament or at high school, we really want them to start building that confidence,” Fiorino said. “I know many athletes want to ultimately go to the Olympics, but you definitely have to take time and build that. Ideally there’s no shortcuts and at this early stage what we’re doing is just creating a platform for those individuals that have that mindset, the competitiveness, the drive to be successful, just providing that process to become better each day.”
