Naya Tapper

Last updated

Naya Tapper
Naya Tapper.jpg
Tapper in 2017
Born (1994-08-03) August 3, 1994 (age 29)
Beaufort, South Carolina, U.S. [1]
Education West Mecklenburg
(Charlotte, North Carolina)
Alma mater University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Height5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight176 lb (80 kg)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing
Senior career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2021-2023 Southern Headliners ()
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2016– United States 12
National sevens team(s)
YearsTeamComps
2016– United States 7s
Medal record
Women's rugby sevens
Representing the Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Pan American Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2019 Lima Team competition
Websitenayatapper.com

Naya Elena Tapper (born August 3, 1994) is an American rugby sevens player. She is the captain of Team USA. Tapper was the first american woman to reach 100 tries and is the all time leading try scorer for the USA Women's 7s team. She debuted for the United States rugby union team in 2016. She was selected for the squad to the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Early life

Like most of her teammates Tapper began her rugby career while attending her first year of college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. [5] She majored in Exercise and Sport Science with a minor in Spanish. [6] She was an All-American athlete at West Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. [7]

Naya Tapper USA Womens Rugby Naya-tapper-R16-YKA9knG-sqDt4pJxQuh.1400x1400.jpg
Naya Tapper USA Womens Rugby

Rugby career

USA Sevens

Tapper made her rugby sevens debut at the 2016 São Paulo Women's Sevens. [8]

Tapper was among 12 women rugby players selected to represent Team USA at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. [9] She was selected to represent the United States at the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town. [10] [11]

Tapper was named a team captain in 2022, leading the USA Women's Sevens to a third place finish and automatic qualification for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. [12] [13]

Tapper was the first USA Woman to reach 100 tries and is the all time leading try scorer for the USA Women's team. [14] Her chase down tackle that saved a try against Ireland at the 2021 Dubai Sevens was named the #1 Play on ESPN's SportCenter Top 10 plays. [15]

USA Fifteens

In 2016, Tapper was selected for the Eagles squad to compete at the Women's Rugby Super Series. [16] She was selected for the squad to the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland where they would finish in fourth place. [2] [3] [4]

Premier Rugby Sevens

Tapper was named as one of the 10 initial ambassadors for Premier Rugby Sevens in 2021. [17] She was subsequently named captain of the Headliners women's team for the 2021 Championship in Memphis. The team would finish second to the Loonies despite winning in group play. [18]

Tapper was named to the 2022 roster for the Headliners as well, but did not make any appearances during the 2022 season. [19]

Tapper returned to the field for the Headliners in 2023, once again as captain. She would lead the team to series wins at the Eastern Conference Kickoff in Austin, as well as at the Eastern Conference Finals in Pittsburgh. [20] [21] The Headliners would qualify for the Championship tournament in Washington, D.C. but would ultimately fall to New York Locals in the semi finals. [22] Tapper was named a finalist for the season long MVP but would ultimately lose out to fellow US teammate Alev Kelter. [23]

Personal life

Tapper has been involved with a number of non-profit initiatives around growing participation rates in rugby, particularly in the southern United States. She has been a board member of Memphis Inner City Rugby since 2021. [24]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madison Hughes</span> Rugby player

Madison John Hughes is a professional rugby union player who plays as a fullback. Born in England, he represents United States at international level after qualifying on residency grounds.

Sara Kaljuvee is a Canadian rugby sevens and fifteens player. She won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and competed for Canada at the delayed 2021 Rugby World Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alev Kelter</span> American rugby union player

Leyla Alev Kelter is an American rugby sevens and rugby union player.

Kelly Griffin is an American rugby sevens player and Olympian. As a member of the United States women's national rugby sevens team, she won a bronze medal at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens, and a silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games. She was also captain of the United States Women's Rugby Sevens team for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Kristen Thomas is an American rugby sevens player. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Katherine Zackary is an American rugby sevens player. She debuted for the United States in 2016 and for the sevens team in 2014. She won a silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games as a member of the United States women's national rugby sevens team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stacey Fluhler</span> New Zealand rugby union player

Stacey Fluhler is a New Zealand rugby union player. She plays fifteen-a-side and seven-a-side rugby union, and is a member of the New Zealand Women's Sevens team and New Zealand Women's National Rugby Union team. Fluhler was a member of the New Zealand Women's Sevens team when they won a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. She was also a member of the New Zealand fifteen-a-side team which won the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup and the 2021 Women's Rugby World Cup.

Nicole Heavirland is an American rugby union player. She made her debut for the United States in 2017. She was named in the Eagles 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup squad.

Kayla Canett is an American rugby union 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 squad. In 2023, Canett suited up with the Pittsburgh Steeltoes of Premier Rugby Sevens.

Kristine Sommer is a former American rugby union and sevens player. She represented the United States at the 2017 and 2021 Rugby World Cup's.

Hope Rogers is an American rugby union player who plays for Exeter Chiefs in the Allianz Premier 15s. She has competed for the Eagles in three consecutive Rugby World Cup's, at the 2014, 2017 and the delayed 2021 tournament.

Abby Gustaitis is an American rugby union player. She debuted for the United States against France 2016. She was selected for the squad to the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland.

Alasio Sovita Naduva plays as a winger in the Fiji national rugby sevens team. He helped the Fiji Sevens side to win their fourth World Rugby Sevens Series in the 2018-19 season.

Alena Saili is a New Zealand rugby sevens player.

Manaia Nuku is a New Zealand rugby sevens player.

Tysha Ikenasio is a New Zealand rugby sevens player.

Sammy Sullivan is an American rugby sevens player. She competed for the United States at the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town. They lost to France in the bronze medal final and finished fourth overall.

Alena Olsen is an American rugby sevens player. She captains the Headliners women's team in the Premier Rugby Sevens competition.

Charlotte “Lotte” Clapp is an English-born rugby union player who plays internationally for the United States, she previously represented England. She plays for Saracens in the Premier 15s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Premier Rugby Sevens</span> American rugby sevens competition

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 competing against each other across the country. The league was founded in 2021 and is officially sanctioned by USA Rugby as the highest level of rugby sevens in the United States.

References

  1. ↑ Naya Tapper | USA Rugby Eagle Profiles. usa.rugby. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
  2. 1 2 Wise, Chad (July 17, 2017). "Eagles announced for Women's Rugby World Cup 2017 in Ireland". USA Rugby. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Women Eagles Name World Cup Squad". www.thisisamericanrugby.com. July 17, 2017. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
  4. 1 2 "New caps in Women's Eagles World Cup squad". Americas Rugby News.com. July 20, 2017. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Team USA's Naya Tapper Is Proving Women Belong in Rugby". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Scholar Profile: Naya Tapper". The Carolina Covenant. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  7. ↑ Flynn, Ryan (March 20, 2015). "Spotlight Player of The Week: Naya Tapper". gifttimerugby.com. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Naya Tapper | Player Profile | USA Eagles". eagles.rugby. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Tokyo Olympics 101: Who's qualified for Team USA? | NBC Olympics". www.nbcolympics.com. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  10. ↑ "USA names rosters for Sevens World Cup". Americas Rugby News. September 2, 2022. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
  11. ↑ Cahill, Calder (September 1, 2022). "Women's Eagles Sevens target podium chase as roster is named for the Rugby World Cup Sevens". eagles.rugby. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Big Plays Secure 3rd in Cape Town for USA Women | Goff Rugby Report". www.goffrugbyreport.com. December 11, 2022. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  13. ↑ "U.S. women's rugby team qualifies for 2024 Paris Olympics as medal contender". NBC Sports. March 31, 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Meet our Athletes". paritynow.co. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  15. ↑ Tabani, Aalina (December 4, 2021). "USA Women's Sevens finish fifth in second round of HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series | Latest Rugby News | USA Rugby". usa.rugby. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  16. ↑ Finlan, Jackie (June 15, 2016). "Tapper Veers Off Path, Reps USA". The Rugby Breakdown: Women's News. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  17. ↑ "New professional sevens league in North America". Rugby World. May 19, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Premier Rugby Sevens crowns inaugural champions". Americas Rugby News. October 10, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  19. ↑ "CARLIN ISLES AND NAYA TAPPER TO HEADLINE THE HEADLINERS | Premier Rugby Sevens". www.prsevens.com. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Record Crowd Sees Headliners and Team Triumph in Austin | Premier Rugby Sevens". www.prsevens.com. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  21. ↑ Santa, John (July 24, 2023). "Pittsburgh Steeltoes men's team wins Premier Rugby Sevens Eastern Conference final title, advances to PR7s Championships". Pittsburgh Union Progress. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  22. ↑ "Women's Northern Loonies and Men's SoCal Rhinos x Loggerheads win 2023 Premier Rugby Sevens Championships | Premier Rugby Sevens". www.prsevens.com. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  23. ↑ "Alev Kelter and Alasio Naduva Win 2023 Premier Rugby Sevens Most Value Player Awards | Premier Rugby Sevens". www.prsevens.com. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  24. ↑ "Our Team". Memphis Inner City Rugby. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.