Rugby

Originally Published at NBCMontana.com

WHITEFISH, Mont. — Whitefish native Nicole Heavirland grew up playing all sports, but there was one in particular she gravitated to.

“Basketball 100%. I wanted to play Division I and wanted to do everything with basketball,” she said.

She went onto play basketball at West Point for a year and a half, but her mind kept circling back to a sport she played as a sophomore in high school.

“I didn’t even know about rugby really,” she said.

Nicole has an older brother and a twin brother who got her into the sport, and she says there was one thing that drew her to rugby.

“The physicality — it was not a lot of women, a lot of girls, are willing to put their body on the line and tackle and get hurt, essentially, and I excelled because I was willing to,” said the scrum-half for the U.S. women’s rugby team.

Family has always been a big part of her upbringing. Her dad, Lance, coached her growing up and knew she had the strength to achieve any goals she set.

“This kid bloodied her, cross-faced her, and she left the mat crying, and she’s 7, and I told her, ‘You don’t have to wrestle anymore, babe,’” said Lance Heavirland, her wrestling coach at the time. “She didn’t like me saying that, and she went out and beat everybody the rest of the day and faced him again, and I said, ‘Make him feel like you felt,’ and she did, she went out and won.”

There have been ups and downs throughout Heavirland’s career, but she says her teammates are what makes rugby so special.

“My teammates are the reason why I wake up every day. They’re my motivation and make me better every day,” Nicole Heavirland said.

She debuted in the World Rugby Series in Atlanta, and after that she had a shot at the Olympics — she received a letter shortly afterward.

“You will not be on the Olympic roster,” said Nicole Heavirland.

So she used that as motivation and worked extremely hard by making sacrifices — sacrifices her mom, Carmen, says she’s been doing since she was a teenager.

“She’s so regimented; she’s given up a lot, like eating candy or eating bad foods. It’s a sacrifice she wants to do, and we’re so proud of her,” said Carmen Heavirland.

With just over 20 women selected, Nicole Heavirland hopes to be on this year’s 2020 Olympic roster for the Tokyo Olympics.

“It will be goosebumps,” she said.

The roster spots are expected to be set by the middle of June 2020.