Get to know Rugby Canada team member, Victoria resident Paige Farries

VICTORIA, British Columbia — Paige Farries, 28, is a back three player for Rugby Canada’s Senior Women’s 15s team. Originally from Red Deer, Alberta, Paige lives on Vancouver Island (as Rugby Canada’s headquarters are situated in Langford). She now considers Victoria her hometown; “although that would upset my Albertan parents.”

In elementary school, while her brothers went to lacrosse practice, Paige wondered “why I was stuck doing Highland Dance.” When she asked to play lacrosse instead, her parents were supportive, but they warned that she would have to play with the boys (as there weren’t enough players for a girls’ team). “That was fine with me,” Paige said.

Paige enjoyed playing lacrosse for several years, but in grade 11, it was difficult to “compete with the size and the physicality that [the boys] were bringing.” While she wondered what to do next, her high school’s rugby director asked, “‘How would you feel about coming out for the girls’ rugby team?’” So, Paige decided to give it a try: “‘It’s not like it’s going to define the rest of my life,’” she thought, but “then it did.”

She was instantly hooked. It’s the “best sport in the world,” Paige said, no matter your size or skillset, “there’s a spot for you on the pitch.” And “it’s not just the fun that you have whistle to whistle,” she explained, “If you play rugby, it ties you into this ginormous, global community.”

Upon graduating from high school, Paige “was excited with the prospect of getting to play for a varsity team.” But in her first year at the University of Alberta (U of A), she “didn’t quite make the squad.” Fortunately, Paige was soon added to the team, and eventually played for three varsity squads (the U of A Pandas, the Western University Mustangs and the UVic Vikes).

In her first year at university, she was quickly scouted for a national U-20s training camp: “I joined the University of Alberta Pandas in September of 2012, and by February of 2013 … I was wearing a maple leaf jersey,” Paige said, it was “a complete whirlwind.” While still an undergrad, she moved to Victoria and became a fulltime athlete with the Canada Women’s 7s team.

She “eventually got dropped,” and left BC to go back to school. Two years later, in 2017, Paige was watching the Women’s Rugby World Cup, and thought, “‘I’ve got to get myself on that team.’” So, she returned to Victoria, and by November of 2017, Paige was offered a place on the Women’s 15s team. To earn that spot, “it was instrumental to move back to Victoria,” Paige said, and “to put myself in a rugby-focused, rugby-centric environment.”

Now, Paige and her teammates are focused on winning this year’s Rugby World Cup. This summer, they spent nearly two months at a training camp in Halifax. “It’s the last big push, to make sure that we’ve finely tuned everything,” Paige explained, and “we’ve put everything in, to have no regrets.” Everyone on the team, “put their life on hold to all be in the same location so that we can train together.”

Looking beyond the World Cup, Paige and everybody at Rugby Canada wants Canada “to be taken seriously as a rugby powerhouse.” She explained, “we’re fourth in the world right now … and we’re one of the only nations that isn’t fully funded in the top ten.” But that isn’t due to a lack of enthusiasm in Canada’s rugby community: “Everywhere I go, it’s always just such a blessing to be welcomed with open arms,” Paige said, “People truly are absolutely amazing.”

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