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Perhaps it’s somewhat ironic that the first coach to see the outsized potential in the diminutive Ghislaine Landry is one of Canada’s tallest rugby coaches.

As Landry languished on the periphery of the national women’s 15-a-side squad, John Tait saw a player with potential.

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For the young woman from Toronto, that literally became everything.

Coaches had always told her she was too small. Tait, who is about 6-8, essentially said “I don’t care.”

With the HSBC Canada Women’s Sevens running this weekend in Langford, Landry now has 1,127 points in an illustrious rugby sevens career. The struggle to make a 15s team seems a lifetime ago.

Earlier this year, before International Women’s Day, Landry and Rugby Canada put together a short film to tell her story, one of a small player who never quit. The response blew her away.

“One of the best parts is how many parents have come up to me and said they’ve been able to show it to their kids,” she said days after the film release. “The amount of stories about kids going through almost the exact same situation as me, it’s blowing my mind a little bit.”