Bianca Farella
Date of birth (1992-04-10) April 10, 1992 (age 31)
Place of birthMontreal, Quebec
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight74 kg (163 lb)
SchoolMiss Edgar's & Miss Cramp's High School
UniversityConcordia University
Rugby union career
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
– TMR RFC ()
2012 Concordia Stingers ()
2010?-2011? Dawson Blues ()
National sevens team(s)
Years Team Comps
2013- Canada
Medal record
Women's rugby sevens
Representing  Canada
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team competition
World Cup 7s
Silver medal – second place 2013 Russia Team competition

Bianca Farella (born April 10, 1992) is a Canadian rugby player. In 2016, she was named to Canada's first ever women's rugby sevens Olympic team.[1]

Rugby career

At the age of 13, Farella chose to join rugby as her spring sport due to her preference for team sports and because her high school Miss Edgar's and Miss Cramp's School only offered tennis, badminton, and rugby as spring sports.[2][3][4] In CEGEP, Farella joined the Dawson College Blues. She was a three-time all-star and the team MVP.[5]

During her one-year playing with the Concordia Stingers in 2012, she led the Quebec university women's rugby conference in tries scored (12 tries for 60 points). She was named the RSEQ Conference All-Star, RSEQ Rookie of the Year, CIS Rookie of the Year, and CIS All-Star.[6] After her stellar performance in the CIS, Farella went to British Columbia to join the centralized women's Rugby Canada program.

After one year with the national team, she was part of the squad that won silver at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens.[7] At the 2014 FISU in Brazil, Farella captained the Canadian team to gold. A year later, she missed the 2015 Pan Am Games to undergo shoulder surgery. Farella rejoined the national squad during the second leg of the 2015-16 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series in São Paulo. By the season's end, Farella ranked ninth in the world with 315 career series points (and second, behind Ghislaine Landry, for all-time in series tries for Canada with 63 points.

In June 2021, Farella was named to Canada's 2020 Summer Olympics team.[8][9]

Achievements and honours

References

  1. ^ MacDonnell, Beth (July 8, 2016). "Historic first Canadian women selected for Olympic rugby at Rio 2016". Olympic.ca. Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  2. ^ "20 Questions with Bianca Farella – Canada Women's Sevens". Canada Sevens. 18 June 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  3. ^ Papoulias, Kosta (21 July 2016). "Montreal native Bianca Farella sees Canada's women winning rugby sevens gold". CBC News. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  4. ^ "ECS Grad Vital to Medal-Winning Rugby @ Rio Team". Miss Edgar's & Miss Cramp's School. 8 September 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Former Stinger Bianca Farella off to Rio Olympics". Stingers.ca. 11 July 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Former Stinger Bianca Farella off to Rio Olympics". Stingers.ca. 11 July 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Bianca Farella - Team Canada". Team Canada - Official Olympic Team Website. 8 July 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  8. ^ Awad, Brandi (25 June 2021). "Team Canada names women's and men's rugby teams for Tokyo 2020". Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  9. ^ Davidson, Neil (25 June 2021). "Veteran trio to lead Canada's rugby 7s squads at the Tokyo Olympics". Canadian Press. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  10. ^ "Canadians dominate Langford Dream Team". Americas Rugby News. 2017-05-29. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
  11. ^ "Awards and Recognition". Rugby Canada. Retrieved 2021-05-01.

External links

Canada Squad – 2020 Summer Olympics
Canada 2013 RWC7s Squad – Silver Medal
Canada Squad – 2016 Summer Olympics – Bronze medal
Canada 2018 RWC7s Squad
Canada Squad – 2020 Summer Olympics
Categories