A young rugby player from St. John’s is bringing home some hardware from Acadia University’s Virtual Athletic Banquet.

Sophie-Rose Pickard, a fourth-year kinesiology student at Acadia, was the recipient of two prestigious awards: the Coach’s Award for women’s varsity rugby and joint recipient of Acadia’s President’s Award for Leadership and Athletics.

The University says those chosen for the President’s Award display the highest level of leadership and are builders because of the impact they have on athletics and their teams.

Pickard is currently on the Dean’s List and is an Academic All-Canadian. Her coach, Matt Durant, says this has been an exceptional and challenging year, and without the efforts of leaders like Sophie, the momentum of their rugby program could have stagnated.

Pickard says she is honoured to have been recognized by her coaches and the Acadia Selection Committee and is immensely grateful for all the support that got her to where she is.