From small town Sask. to Paris: Carissa Norsten representing Canada at Olympics in rugby sevens

Carissa Norsten only started playing rugby in Warman, Sask., about five years ago.

Now the 20-year-old Waldheim native is one of 12 players in Paris with Canada's rugby seven's team for the 2024 Olympics. She was ecstatic upon learning she was selected to don the maple leaf.

"It was a really cool moment to be recognized in that 12," Norsten said. "It kind of hasn't really hit me yet, but I'm just really, really excited."

Rugby sevens shares the same rules as the more traditional rugby union for tackling, backwards passes, scrums and how points are scored.

However, rugby sevens is played at a much faster pace, as teams only have seven players on the field instead of 15 and the games are only 14 minutes instead of 80. 

Norsten is the only player from Saskatchewan on Canada's team. The rest of the squad is from Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Prince Edward Island. 

She said rugby isn't as prevalent in Saskatchewan as other areas of Canada. 

"I didn't really go to school with anybody who played rugby. My sister kind of just ended up trying it out in Warman," Norsten said.

"I went and watched a few of her games and just thought it looked pretty fun, so I gave it a shot."

Norsten grew up playing hockey, basketball, volleyball, soccer and running track growing up in Waldheim — a town of about 1,000 people north of Saskatoon — but rugby opened a lot of doors for her to compete at the highest level. 

It didn't take long for her talent to get noticed. She was recruited to Vancouver Island — where the national team is based — prior to starting Grade 12. Norsten said it was a big change.

'My mom helped me move out, but I was kind of on my own kind of once I got there. It was definitely a big adjustment, like, moving from a small town in Saskatchewan out to like Vancouver Island, but it was good,'' Norsten said

Norsten earned a spot on the University of Victoria's women's rugby team and later got picked up by the national program.

Kayla Mack, a Saskatoon-born former member of Canada's national women's rugby team, was Norsten's first rugby coach. She isn't surprised that Norsten is already playing for the national team.