Leyla Alev Kelter (born March 21, 1991) is an American rugby sevens and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player.

Rugby career

She won a silver medal at the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...

as a member of the

United States women's national rugby sevens team The United States women's national rugby sevens team competes in international rugby sevens competitions. The team finished second at the 2015 USA Women's Sevens, after defeating Russia in the semifinals. They competed at the 2016 Summer Olympi ...

. She also made the squad to the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Kelter was named in the Eagles squad to the

2017 Women's Rugby World Cup The 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup was the eighth edition of the Women's Rugby World Cup and was held in Ireland in August 2017. New Zealand became the 2017 champions by beating England 41–32 in the final on 26 August. Matches were held in Dubl ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. In January 2022 the English rugby side

Saracens Women Saracens Women (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsærəsənz/) are a women's rugby union club based in Hendon, London, England. They were founded in 1989 and currently play in the Premier 15s, the top level competition of Women's rugby union, women's rugby ...

announced that she had signed for the rest of the 2021–22 Premier15s season. She was named in the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

squad for the

2022 Pacific Four Series The 2022 Pacific Four Series was the second edition of the Pacific Four Series. The competition was hosted by New Zealand from 6 to 18 June. Matches were played at two of the venues which will host the delayed 2021 Rugby World Cup – The Trusts ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. She was selected in the Eagles squad for the

2021 Rugby World Cup The 2021 Rugby World Cup was the ninth staging of the women's Rugby World Cup, as organised by World Rugby. It was held from 8 October to 12 November 2022 in Auckland and Whangārei, New Zealand. It was originally scheduled to be held in 2021, ...

Soccer and Ice hockey

Kelter played for the

United States women's national under-20 soccer team The United States U-20 women's national soccer team is a youth soccer team operated under the auspices of U.S. Soccer. Its primary role is the development of players in preparation for the senior women's national team. The team most recentl ...

and the

United States women's national under-18 ice hockey team The United States women's national under-18 ice hockey team represents the United States at the IIHF World Women's U18 Championships. World U18 Championship record The United States has won a medal in every IIHF World Women's U18 Championship the ...

and later played both sports at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

from 2009–2013.

Personal life

Born to Mark Perusse and Leyla Kelter, she has two brothers and a twin sister, Derya Kelter, who also played soccer and ice hockey. Before she was nine, her family had moved four times because her father was a fighter pilot in the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

. Kelter attended

Chugiak High School Chugiak High School is a public high school located in Chugiak, Anchorage, Alaska, and a part of the Anchorage School District. Chugiak's mascot is the Mustang and the school colors are blue, black, and white. In 2005, Chugiak's student population ...

Chugiak, Alaska Chugiak is an unincorporated community in the Municipality of Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska, situated approximately northeast of downtown Anchorage. Geography Chugiak is located between Eagle River to the south and Eklutna to the nor ...

. She graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from

in 2015. Kelter is a part of the LGBTQ community and has spoken out against banning transgender women from playing women's rugby.

References

External links

Alev Kelter
at

USA Rugby USA Rugby (officially the United States of America Rugby Football Union, Ltd.) is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. Its role is to achieve and maintain “high levels of quality in all aspects of rugb ...

* * * * * * 1991 births Living people United States international rugby sevens players Female rugby sevens players Rugby sevens players at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Rugby sevens players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic rugby sevens players of the United States Wisconsin Badgers women's ice hockey players Wisconsin Badgers women's soccer players American women's ice hockey defensemen American women's soccer players Soccer players from Alaska Ice hockey players from Anchorage, Alaska Sportspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Pan American Games medalists in rugby sevens United States women's international rugby union players American female rugby union players American female rugby sevens players Women's association football midfielders Twin sportspeople American twins Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Rugby sevens players at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century American women {{US-rugbyunion-bio-stub