Queen’s has long been known as a powerhouse in U SPORTS Rugby, producing talents such as Sophie De Goede and Lauren McEwen. Now starting her third season with the sport, fifth-year Lizzie Gibson is another player who’s making waves and smashing records.
On Sept. 2, the jack-of-all-trades ,Gibson scored a kick against Trent to smash the Queen’s Women’s Rugby all-time scoring record, created by Lauren McEwen in 2014.
Originally from Caledon, ON, Gibson started playing rugby in high school. There, she met her coach, Colin Bowens, who had an outstanding impact on Gibson’s junior career. Gibson mentioned Bowens still supports her to this day, and takes time to voice his support for her on social media.
Coming to Queen’s, Gibson had no intention of breaking the all-time points record, and after an injury in 2021, she didn’t see it as a feasible goal. It wasn’t until a social media post highlighted that Gibson was third for Queen’s Women’s Rugby all-time scoring last year that she knew about her status.
Gibson cited her teammates as the driving force behind her success.
“It’s an unreal feeling to be a part of this team and to celebrate with my teammates because I wouldn’t be kicking for points if they didn’t score the tries,” she said in an interview with The Journal. “If we didn’t blow up teams 100-0, I wouldn’t be able to check points.”
Aside from her amazing achievement, Gibson highlighted the importance of McEwen—now the Assistant Coach of Women’s Rugby—being there to watch and support her as she launched the record-breaking points through the uprights.
“[It’s a] big wave of emotions [that] I get to do the moment with her,” Gibson said. “It was huge, like ‘wow, I just beat a legend from Queen’s, and she’s here to celebrate with me.’”
Although you might expect jealously from McEwen, Gibson explained that McEwen was one of the biggest contributors to her success. She cited McEwen as the person who taught her how to kick and maintain her focus whether things were going her way or not.
Alongside McEwen and Bowens, Gibson had a plethora of dedicated coaches pushing her to become the athlete she is today. She mentioned former Team Canada Rugby Coach Sandro Fiorino, and current Queen’s Coaches Dan Valley, Britt Benn, Sean Dunleavy, Blake Wilson, and Mohamed Yusuf as having a tremendous impact on her development.
This isn’t to say that Gibson hasn’t experienced her fair share of adversity. After tearing her ACL, Gibson had serious doubts about her commitment and ability to return to play. This is when she found the support of her family, pushing her to keep chasing her dreams and not to give up.
Gibson said she doesn’t expect to slow down during the remainder of the season, and her team, she’s driven towards shared achievements above all else.
“I don’t think we’re ever going to stop. We aim for banner season and this year, we want two banners. We want the OUA banner, and we want the national banner.”
Tags
Lauren McEwan, Lizzie Gibson, Women's rugby
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