黑料网

The 黑料网 Women鈥檚 Rugby team has recruited Charlotte Branchflower to play for the Panthers in 2021鈥�2022. Branchflower is a talented 17-year-old fly-half from Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Assistant coach James Voye says Branchflower will be an essential piece to the Panthers鈥� roster as the team looks compete with the elite talent in the AUS, such as the Acadia Axewomen and the St. Francis Xavier X-Women. 

鈥淐harlotte is a committed high-performance athlete from the Nova Scotia Keltics Academy and Ignite program,鈥� said Voye. 鈥淪he鈥檚 an intelligent player who has good vision, field sense, and a high rugby IQ.鈥�

Branchflower is a relative newcomer to the sport, having grown up on the soccer pitch as a high-level soccer player.

鈥淎n old teammate and I first discovered rugby when we watched it during the 2016 Summer Olympics,鈥� said Branchflower, who moved to Halifax from Connecticut in 2016. 鈥淲e both thought it would be a cool sport to play.鈥�

She didn鈥檛 get her chance to play until two years later, when a pair of Rugby Nova Scotia players visited her junior high school gym class.

鈥淭hey taught us a bit about rugby, which convinced our school to enter a team for a one-day flag rugby tournament hosted by Rugby NS,鈥� said Branchflower. That tournament sealed the deal for Branchflower. She was hooked.

From Halifax West High School to the Nova Scotia Keltics, Branchflower quickly made a name for herself. In 2019, she represented the Keltics provincial team at the under-16 Eastern Canadian Rugby Championships as the starting fly-half. She would have done the same in 2020 had it not been for COVID-19.

鈥淪he鈥檚 an extremely mature young woman who is very academically and athletically driven, and we wanted her,鈥� Voye said. 鈥淪he has the potential to make an immediate impact for us. It鈥檚 extremely important to recruit versatile players.鈥�

Go Panthers Go!