Heather Cowell (born 23 January 1996) is an English

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.

Career

A former international gymnast, Cowell was a junior world champion in tumbling in 2013 in Bulgaria, and was part of the winning team at the Senior European Champion Team Event in 2014 in Portugal. Cowell performed gymnastics at the opening ceremony of the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

in Glasgow. Cowell competed at international level until she was 20. After playing rugby at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

, Cowell joined

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club, based in Worcester, England, that is currently in Administration (law), administration and which has been suspended and will be relegated from Premiership Rugby, the top ...

before taking some time out of the game and returning with

Harlequins Women Harlequins Women, formerly known as Harlequins Ladies, are a women's rugby union club based in Guildford, Surrey, England and in Twickenham, Middlesex, England. They were founded in 1995 as the women's team of Harlequin F.C. and rebranded in 2 ...

. Cowell scored twice on her England XV’s debut during the 2021-22 season. A call up to the England sevens team followed for the England Rugby Europe Series in Budapest. Cowell was selected to play for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

in rugby sevens. She was named in the England squad for the

2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens – Women's tournament The women's tournament for the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held in Cape Town, South Africa from September 9 to 11 at the Cape Town Stadium. Teams The four semi-finalists from the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens were automatic qualifiers, with ...

held in

Cape Town, South Africa Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislature, legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the sec ...

in September 2022. She was a selected as a member of the GB sevens squad for the

2023 European Games The 3rd European Games ( pl, III Igrzyska Europejskie, Igrzyska Europejskie 2023), informally known as Kraków-Małopolska 2023, is a scheduled international sporting event to be held in Kraków and Małopolska, Poland in 2023. All Olympic sports h ...

. Great Britain won a gold medal at the event and sealed qualification for the

2024 Olympic Games ) , nations = TBA , athletes = 10,500 ''(quota limit)'' , events = 329 in 32 sports (48 disciplines) , opening = 26 July 2024 , closing = 11 August 2024 , opened_by = , stadium = Stade de France Jardins du Trocadéro and River Seine , summer ...

Personal life

Cowell attended Chase Bridge Primary School in Twickenham and Richmond College. Her brother

Cameron Cowell Cameron may refer to: People * Clan Cameron, a Scottish clan * Cameron (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Cameron (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) ;Mononym * Cam'ron (born 197 ...

is a professional rugby player who has also represented England at sevens rugby.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowell, Heather 1996 births Living people Female rugby union players England women's international rugby union players English female rugby union players Rugby sevens players at the 2023 European Games European Games medalists in rugby sevens European Games gold medalists for Great Britain