Helen Kalra (née Russell) is a Canadian rugby union player. She represented at the

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

and

1994 Women's Rugby World Cup The 1994 Women's Rugby World Cup was the second world cup for women. It was originally scheduled to be held in Amsterdam, Netherlands (April 10–24) but was cancelled only weeks before. However, a replacement competition was organised around the s ...

Rugby

Russell was the first female student to play for the Men's University of Guelph Rugby team in 1985 when she suited up for a match against Wilfrid Laurier University. She was known for her crushing tackles and powerful rucking. Russell was a member of the Ontario team for four years and was inducted into the Ontario Rugby Hall of Fame in 2006. She retired as a captain of the national team.

Achievements

* Captain of Team Quebec * Captain of Team Ontario * Captain of Team Canada * 2006, Ontario Rugby Hall of Fame inductee * EORU women's league competition named in her honour

Personal life

Russell's father, John Russell, emigrated to Canada from England in 1957, and over the course of a six decade involvement in the rugby community, he joined Ottawa's first rugby club - the Ottawa Beavers, became the founding president of the Ottawa Indians RFC, established the Bytown Blues RFC, was the first president of the Ottawa Area Rugby Association, was one of eight founding members of

Twin Elm Rugby Park Twin Elm Rugby Park is a sports venue in South Nepean, Ottawa, Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politicall ...

, served on the Canadian Rugby Union board for a decade, and inducted in the Rugby Ontario and Twin Elm Rugby Park Hall of Fall. Russell studied human biology with a biomedical minor at the University of Guelph (1982-1987). She worked in pharma for over twenty years, starting as a sale representative and rose to marketing director for the gastrointestinal franchise at AstraZeneca Canada, Inc. Russell now works for Pangaea Consultants as an Associate Managing Director with an expertise in channel marketing and strategic insights and resourcing.

References

1964 births Living people Canadian female rugby union players Canada women's international rugby union players Sportspeople from Scarborough, Toronto {{Canada-rugbyunion-bio-stub