Women’s rugby team honours former player at home opener

UPEI women's rugby team will honour former player Jessica MacDonald at their season opener against St. Thomas University on Saturday, September 8 at 3:00 pm. MacDonald will be honoured at a special ceremony before the game at 2:45 pm. Following the rugby game, alumni, family, and friends are invited to a reception at The Wave, UPEI's campus pub.

MacDonald, a public affairs contractor with the Department of National Defence, just returned home after a seven-month deployment in the Arabian Sea. She credits the education she received at UPEI for her strong writing and communications skills. She also believes her time playing rugby contributed to her success. 'The toughness and ability to push myself in rugby are skills I use often when deployed. The friendships and memories from athletics at UPEI are also top of mind when times are tough.'

MacDonald played rugby for the University as well as hockey for two seasons. As a determined dual athlete, MacDonald earned UPEI's Female Athlete of the Year in the 2004-05 athletic season, the only women's rugby player to ever receive the honour. During her time playing rugby for UPEI, she was also a Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) All-Canadian in 2004, an Atlantic University Sport (AUS) All-Star in 2004-05, and a recipient of the team's Most Valuable Player award.

"We hope to see lots of alumni, family, and friends out for the game as we celebrate Jessica's time at UPEI,' said head coach Shannon Atkins. 'We are looking forward to our home opener on Saturday and we're hoping to start the season on a winning note.'

MacDonald coached rugby at the high school level and is a former UPEI assistant coach. She holds a bachelor of arts degree from UPEI, a bachelor of education degree from Memorial University, and will begin her master's degree in communication at Royal Roads University this fall.