U Sports pipeline providing Olympic medal-worthy talent to national women's rugby program

Carissa Norsten sits below her Olympic silver medal, which dangles from a shelf in her bedroom.

As she speaks about the experience with Canada's women's rugby sevens team in Paris, it's clear that the sparkle in her eyes is due to a reflection from that hardware — in one way or another.

But when Norsten, who turns 21 in November, is away from the national team, she continues to compete at the University of Victoria. Her squad is one of eight headed to UPEI for the national 15s championship, which begins Wednesday with live coverage beginning at 12 p.m. ET on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem.

For Norsten, the Paris experience would not have been possible without her time in Victoria.

"It was a huge step in my rugby journey," she said. "If it hadn't been for U Sports, I probably wouldn't have pursued rugby the way that I did."

The women's rugby sevens squad is one of few national teams which utilizes U Sports as a development pipeline. Five members of the silver-medal group in Paris are active student athletes, while 11 of 12 competed in U Sports at some point.

Norsten said her fellow Vikes on the national team will always take a picture together on the field, as will current and former UBC Thunderbirds players. Most rugby players head west since the sevens team often centralizes in Victoria.

UBC beat Victoria in the recent Canada West championship game, concluding a tournament which included five members of the Olympic team.

Rugby 15s | CW Gold Medal Game Highlights