Kayla Canett ( ; born April 29, 1998) is an American

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. She made her debut for both the United States fifteens and sevens team in 2017. She was named in the Eagles

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 ...

squad. In 2023, Canett suited up with the Pittsburgh Steeltoes of

Premier Rugby Sevens Premier Rugby Sevens (PR7s) is the top annual North American men's and women's rugby sevens competition. The competition follows a touring model and involves 16 teams (8 men's and 8 women's teams) competing against each other across the count ...

Early life and career

Canett attended

Fallbrook High School Fallbrook Union High School (also referred to as FUHS, Fallbrook High School and FHS) is a public high school located in the rural community of Fallbrook, California. Established in 1893, FUHS is the second-oldest high school in San Diego County. ...

and

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

. She began her rugby career in her freshman year of high school in 2013. She previously played basketball and soccer. She is majoring in

Kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human health ...

at Penn State.

Rugby career

College career

Canett played collegiate rugby at Penn State University as scrumhalf and flyhalf. In 2017, Canett aided her team in winning its twelfth Division I National Championship after defeating Lindenwood University, 28-25. Not only was this the Nittany Lions' twelfth championship overall, but it was their sixth-straight.

National Sevens Career

Canett made her sevens debut at the

2016 Dubai Women's Sevens The 2016 Dubai Women's Sevens was the opening tournament of the 2016–17 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series. It was held on 1–2 December 2016 at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai, and was the 5th edition of the Women's Dubai Sevens as part of the Wor ...

. She competed at the

2019 Pan American Games The 2019 Pan American Games ( es, Juegos Panamericanos de 2019, links=no), officially the XVIII Pan American Games and commonly known as the Lima 2019 Pan-Am Games or Lima 2019 ( qu, Limaq 2019), were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Spo ...

. Canett was selected for the U.S. Eagles sevens squad and made her Olympic debut at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. After getting knocked out 21-12 to Great Britain in the Quarter-finals, Canett and the Eagles ended the games in sixth place. In 2022, She was again selected in the United States team for the Rugby World Cup Sevens in

Cape Town 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 legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. Canett was a named in the USA women's sevens team for the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 2024), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la XXXIIIe Olympiade, links=no) and also known as Paris 2024, is an upcoming international multi-sport event that is s ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Her side defeated

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the bronze medal final and earned USA's first ever Olympic medal in sevens.

National XVs career

Canett made her fifteen's debut against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 2017.

Premier Rugby Sevens

2023

During the 2023

season, Canett suited up with the Pittsburgh Steeltoes. This marked the Steeltoes' inaugural season as PR7s expanded to eight franchises prior to the start of the 2023 season. Canett and the Steeltoes ended the year tied for eighth place as they produced a 1-3 record throughout the season. Their lone win was a 22-0 blowout against the Texas Team on June 17, 2023.

Statistics

References

External links

Kayla Canett
at USA Rugby *
Kayla Canett-Oca of The States carries the ball during rugby
.. News Photo - Getty Images * {{DEFAULTSORT:Canett, Kayla 1998 births Living people American female rugby union players United States women's international rugby union players American female rugby sevens players Rugby sevens players at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in rugby sevens 21st-century American sportswomen Pennsylvania State University alumni People from Fallbrook, California Penn State Nittany Lions athletes Rugby union players from California Sportspeople from San Diego County, California Rugby sevens players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Rugby sevens players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in rugby sevens