I can remember very well watching Canada competing in 2017 at the Singapore 7s rugby tournament.

I remembered watching them beat a very strong New Zealand All Blacks in the quarter-final, which was a very big statement from the team. They then went on to beat England handily in the semi-final to make it to one of the very few cup finals that Rugby Canada had seen in a long time. After seeing the performance they put in against the USA to win Singapore 7s, you could see that when they were on their game, they could beat any team in the world.

I wanted to compete on that stage.

For four seasons, I had played with the Acadia Axemen soccer team in the Atlantic University Sport (AUS). And for four summers, I also had focused on rugby.

In September 2018, I received a call from the Head Coach of Rugby Canada Men’s 15s team, Kinsley Jones, who offered me a card (contract) to train full time in Victoria, British Columbia at the Al Charron National Training Centre. Later that year, I switched streams to focus on 7s, a 14-minute, fast-paced, highlight reel version of the original 15-a-side game. Here, Canada competes in the HSBC World Sevens Series against 15 other nations, which consists of 10 tournaments hosted in cities around the globe.

I travelled to Dubai, UAE at the end of 2019 for our first stop of the series.

One of the most intriguing aspects of playing sevens for Canada is the number of cultures we experience and the cities we see. During any tour, we arrive a week prior to the tournament in order to adjust to the time change and get used to the climate. When we have time off between training and team meetings, we’re fortunate enough to be able to explore the city with our own eyes. In the week leading up to the tournament, being able to walk through the city’s streets and hear everyone talking about the games on the weekend is an incredibly motivating feeling. It makes you feel like the big deal in town.

Dubai is truly a fascinating city, from the sandy beaches on the Persian Gulf to the sights of the Burj Khalifa beside the monstrous Dubai Mall. Rugby aside, being able to experience this city was incredible. Yet as the week comes to a close and the weekend approaches, city-dwelling and sight-seeing aside, we know that we have a big job to do.

Our pool for Dubai consisted of Samoa, New Zealand, and Wales. Now, if anyone knows anything about rugby is that New Zealand and their "Haka" are world-renowned. To get a shot at a top seeded team like that...your heart beats a little differently.

I’m on the team bus driving to the stadium and I’ve just put on my pregame playlist. But it's shortly drowned out by the buzz of the stadium and its fans.

It’s an incredible sensation to feel when you can see all the fans lining up to get into the stadium and hear the loudspeakers inside playing everyone's favourite sing-a-longs. It’s during moments like this when you see all the people eager to watch you and the other athletes perform at their very best when I realize that this is truly a professional sport.

It’s here when the buildup of butterflies and nerves begin to mount.

Pregame chats, tactics, and taping goes by swiftly and it's time for warm up. Another sweep of nerves begins as the fans stand at the fence line watching us warmup before we head to the dressing room for match jerseys. Last preparations are done and we hit the tunnel where I can see the game before us just finishing while we wait in anticipation directly beside our opponents. I'm nervous. The anticipation is killing me as we see the previous game has finished and the fans are chanting them off the field. All we wait for is the television official to give us the go ahead.

Seconds feel like minutes until finally we see his hand raise up, five seconds until we hit the battlefield, 4, 3, 2, 1...it’s showtime.

We run out to a stadium full of fans and we are standing next to rugby royalty — the New Zealand All Blacks.

During the game, there were moments when we had complete control of the ball and were dominating on attack.

We had a walk-in try by our captain Nate Hirayama. However, there were instances where one teammate wouldn’t be close enough in support or a pass would fly just out of reach.

These slight slips cause scores in 7s...it's that fast. To give credit where credit’s due, the All Blacks are one of the best teams in the world at scoring on turnovers and it's where the game is won. 

I remember coming off the field against New Zealand in Dubai after losing to them and realizing that they weren’t rugby gods, but rather that they simply made fewer mistakes.

Games like this against the mega's of world rugby is what we play for. It is during these games where I can compare myself to the best and learn from their decisions, but of course with the ultimate intention of beating them. But in order to beat the best, you can't make mistakes, and that pursuit of perfection is like a beating drum in your head...and it stayed with me all the way to George Town. 

Qualifying for the Olympics after defeating Jamaica in Grand Cayman at the Rugby Americas North Olympic 7s tournament was one of the biggest moments in my athletic career.

The win here guaranteed our spot at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games after the USA had automatically qualified by placing in the top four of the series that year.

What many people don’t know is the amount of work that was put in and the sacrifices made by everyone involved leading up to that moment.

I have always felt pressure to get my professional career started.

I’ve decided to begin the Masters of Science in Kinesiology program at the University of Victoria this fall. Academia is something I’ve always taken seriously and I felt that this program would be an excellent way to continue my academic career while playing rugby. A dream of mine has always been to attend medical school and become a doctor, something I still plan on achieving in the future but it will have to wait.

It’s during moments like in George Town, that of pure elation, that makes the dedication and "waiting" worth it. I'm reminded that nothing lasts forever and it allows me to focus on the present moment.

When I first picked up a rugby ball, I could never imagine myself being on the field representing Canada and hearing that final whistle blow to signify Olympic qualification. It is where I find myself now, eager to book my spot on the travelling roster to Tokyo...

Even though our original timeline leading up to the Games has been changed.

The Olympics have been postponed a year, and as disappointing as it may seem, it is by far better than cancellation, which could have been our reality.

Currently, due to COVID-19, the team cannot train together and some of the players have decided to spend some time at home with their families. Although we are not able to physically train together, our strength coaches have provided us with at home strength and conditioning programs to keep on top of our fitness. Obviously due to the lack of access to a proper weight lifting facility, some strength training exercises can’t be included and so our main ‘quarantine focus’ is on power, cardiovascular fitness, and speed. Understandably, when the season starts back up again, it is going to be the teams that trained to the best of their ability with the resources they have that will be most successful.

Everyone on our team understands that this is truly an opportunity for us to get a leg up against the competition and all of us are equally committed to getting the most out of the time off.

I’m reminded of Canada’s 2017 run in Singapore, the one that motivated me to play this game at the highest level. A level of competition that I'm putting my career on hold for. I want to be there, running with the best.

That belief lives with the team now as younger guys come into the program with a winning mentality. We know we can compete with the elite of Rugby 7s. We know that we have the athleticism and ability to compete with any team in the world, which is a very encouraging thing. Furthermore, our squad has been building a strong depth chart of players, which is even more encouraging leading into this Olympics as it will make the position for spots that much more competitive.

Canadian 7s rugby is there with the best in the world and I am incredibly excited to see our upward trend continue as we near the biggest stage of all.