SAN DIEGO — An Olympic athlete who grew up and trained in San Diego is competing on the U.S. Rugby sevens team in Paris.
Kayla Canett, from Fallbrook, is competing in her second Summer Olympics after coming in 6th in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Leading up to Paris, she and the rest of the U.S. rugby sevens men's and women's teams trained in San Diego County at the the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center, a spokesperson confirmed.
"Growing up in Fallbrook was the only reason I am in the position that I am," Canett shared with CBS 8. "I’m not sure if I would’ve ever ran into rugby if not for the community in Fallbrook, so I owe everything to them."
Canett, 26, went to Fallbrook High School. She started playing rugby at age 14, and in high school, she played varsity soccer and basketball.
"Thanks to my coach’s Marin & Craig Pinnell, they instilled the right mindset and attitude toward playing the game of rugby which made me fall in love with it within weeks of getting my hands on a ball," she said.
Fallbrook has a big rugby presence, Canett said, and it's part of a growing rugby community in Southern California.
"It’s been incredible to see the sport grow in my hometown and I just hope that it continues because it has had such a positive impact on my life," Canett said. "I want that for other kids playing sports in San Diego and obviously I have a bias towards rugby."
Canett graduated from Penn State University and was part of the school's rugby club team from 2017 to 2021. She was on the U.S. women’s sevens rugby team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
On Monday, the women's rugby sevens team beat Great Britain 17-7 in the quarterfinals. They will play against New Zealand in the semifinal on Tuesday.
Find the rugby schedule for the 2024 Paris Olympics here.
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