Breanne Nicholas of Blenheim, Ontario has been making waves in the rugby community since she started playing as a Blenheim Bobcat back in high school. Three years since graduating, Nicholas continues to live up to her potential.

Over the past two years, Nicholas has been playing for Western University as the team’s starting fullback. During the 2014-2015 season, Western won a national title for the first time since 2007. They defeated Queen’s to win bronze in the OUA championship and beat Ottawa to claim bronze in the CIS championship. From this experience, Nicholas says the team learned a lot and gained valuable team camaraderie and work ethic.

“As a team, we gained some confidence going into the CIS tournament. We lost by a large margin to Queens in regular season play, and to beat them during playoffs really gave us some insight,” she says. “It only took us all season to figure out, but if we played as a team and used our strengths we could accomplish our goal.”

“We brought this mindset to CIS and did much better than other teams expected of us, considering we were seeded lasted in the CIS pool.”

Next year, Nicholas encourages her Western teammates to play to their full potential as a team unit. She says everyone needs to trust the decisions and calls being made, stick to the game plan, and to always play with passion.

Having developed her skills as an outside center, scrumhalf, and fullback on multiple different teams, Nicholas has become a very well rounded and knowledgeable rugby player. This summer, Nicholas is training in British Columbia with the senior National 7’s conditioning coaches, 5-6 days a week to continue improving both physically and mentally.

“Next year, I will not be returning to Western because I have decided to follow my dreams and strive to reach my goals as a rugby player. I’m taking the opportunity to accept centralization and be a part of the Canadian 7’s squad,” she says.

This past spring, Nicholas had traveled with Canada to Hong Kong for the National Sevens tournament, where they picked up a goal medal.

“I am happy with my personal performance,” she says. “It was a great learning experience and helped with my development as I familiarize myself with the 7’s game at a high level of competition.”

“From my experience playing at a National level, I have learned that everyone is striving to be the best,” she says. “One little mistake or slack of effort can make a huge difference. At the national level, there is little room for error, as it can be very costly.”

Nicholas has a golden opportunity to better herself as a player as she trains with some of the very best rugby players in Canada this summer and throughout the coming year. She says she is just happy to be on the field and to be able to play rugby, no matter the position. As a hard-working and passionate individual, Nicholas knows that the stakes are high when playing at such a competitive level. She looks forward to this new experience as she chases her dream and continues to go above and beyond to ensure her success in the rugby world.