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.

''When Carissa came she was very young and when she stepped on the field you would have never guessed it. She ran really hard with the ball, she just had a vision and she had blazing speed," Mack said.

''Her, just, athletic ability was was really unmatched. I think all of us that saw her play … thought this girl is going to go far."

Mack said Norsten is a perfect ambassador for Saskatchewan rugby.

"She can step, she can swerve, which makes her just so deadly, but then she is a workhorse. She absolutely never stops, just like true Saskatchewan farm girl, and she has got grit,'' Mack said.''I don't think I've ever seen her act tired, even if she is. She just has no quit in her.''

Mack and her family just moved back to Saskatoon from Toronto. One of the first things she did once she returned was buy a TV so she'd be able to watch Norsten compete in the Olympics. 

Norsten credits Mack with being a positive role model when she was getting into the sport.

''I think just knowing that somebody from where I was from could make it and represent the national team, that was really inspiring," Norsten said.

Norsten is excited to represent Saskatchewan in Paris. She hopes it can put a spotlight on the province's rugby potential.

"It's hard to be seen coming from a small province, so the more camps and identification we can get going on in the smaller provinces, the more athletes we'll find," Norsten said.

"Just because it's a smaller province it doesn't mean there isn't great rugby players there.''

Canada's rugby sevens team start their Olympics campaign on Sunday. They play Fiji at 9:30 a.m CST and New Zealand at 1:30 p.m CST, before taking on China in their final group stage match on Monday at 8:00 a.m. CST.

Canada won a bronze medal in the inaugural Olympic rugby sevens competition at the 2016 Rio games. Norsten said the squad's goal is to return to the podium.