Hayley Desjardins wins OUA Player of the Year award

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Photo by Eva Ou

The Wilfrid Laurier womenโ€™s rugby teamโ€™s season came to a crashing end at the hands of Western in the OUA playoffs.

But the end of the season was bittersweet for fifth year veteran Hayley Desjardins, who was recently named the OUA player of the year.ย 

Needless to say, Desjardins had an outstanding season, and she became the first Laurier womenโ€™s rugby player to win this prestigious award. ย 

With this being her final year at Laurier, this was the perfect way for Desjardins to end her Golden Hawk career.ย 

โ€œIโ€™m sad the seasonโ€™s over. We expected more of an upset with Western at the end of the season there, but regardless of that this is the best season Iโ€™ve had in all my five years playing with the girls,โ€ she said.ย 

โ€œIโ€™m happy with the amount of recognition womenโ€™s rugby is receiving this year. Weโ€™re a growing and developing program and weโ€™ve accomplished a lot together,โ€ she added.

Desjardins scored 25 points for the Hawks during the regular season, good for thirteenth in the conference.ย 

Even though Desjardins is ready to say goodbye to her university playing career, she still plans on staying involved with rugby post-graduation.

Her standout performances were one of the biggest reasons behind the Hawks success this season and her presence on the womenโ€™s rugby team will be sorely missed.ย 

She hasnโ€™t just been a leader on a successful rugby team, Desjardins has also played a major role in the progression of the Laurier womenโ€™s rugby program through her consistent hard work year after year. ย 

When asked what advice she would give to new recruits and the young players on the team, Desjardins mentioned the importance of patience.ย 

โ€œI would just say try your best. Not everyoneโ€™s going to get one of those 15 starting positions in their first couple of years but youโ€™ll eventually get there,โ€ she said.ย 

โ€œIโ€™ve learned a lot from some of our alumni. Theyโ€™re some of the best players Iโ€™ve ever had the pleasure of playing with.โ€ย 

โ€œThis group of girls are also my best friends. I got to spend every day with them so I would just cherish being a part of the team.โ€

Even though Desjardins is ready to say goodbye to her university playing career, she still plans on staying involved with rugby post-graduation.ย 

โ€œIโ€™ll definitely still be playing [rugby] in the summer season, probably with the Markham Irish Rugby club and Iโ€™ll be back to cheer the girls when they have home games,โ€ she concluded.

Desjardins is a role model for all the girls on the womenโ€™s rugby team, and itโ€™ll be intriguing to see how the Hawks move forward without one of their best players ever.ย 


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