Rugby was a constant growing up for Sophie de Goede.
De Goede’s mother, Stephanie White, was the first Canadian women’s captain in 1987 and represented Canada for 10 years. Her father, Hans de Goede, played 13 years for Canada and captained the team at the inaugural 1987 World Cup. Both are members of Rugby Canada’s Hall of Fame.
The apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
The 23-year-old Sophie was named Canada captain this summer. Her older brothers both played rugby, with Thyssen representing Canada at 15s and sevens and Jake suiting up for the storied James Bay AA club.
“I think a lot of kids maybe would come home to cartoons or hockey or something on the TV. I’m really lucky that I would come home to international test matches that had been taped and were ready to watch,” Sophie recalled. “We were at the James Bay [Athletic Association] clubhouse every weekend growing up. I played mini [rugby] at the Castaways club. So it was always rugby on the weekend and often rugby on the weeknights.
“If we didn’t want to go to rugby, I was definitely not forced to. But just growing up with it I kind of fell in love with it.”
The third-ranked Canadians open Pool B play against No. 13 Japan on Saturday night (Sunday afternoon New Zealand time) in Whangarei before facing No. 5 Italy on Oct. 15 and the sixth-ranked U.S. on Oct. 22, both in Auckland.
The 12-country tournament was originally slated to run from Sept. 18 to Oct. 16 last year but was postponed due to the pandemic. It is now scheduled to run through Nov. 12.
A former fly half and scrum half turned backrower, the six-foot de Goede brings a lot to the table. An effective ball-carrier and tough tackler, she also serves as Canada’s long-range placekicker and is a weapon at lineouts.
“She’s incredibly well-rounded,” said Queen’s University women’s rugby coach Dan Valley. “To steal the baseball analogy, she is in every way shape or form a five-tool player. And that was evident from an early age.
“You just had to watch her rip around a park for 30 minutes or an hour and you got a sense of what she was capable of.”
Valley first got to see de Goede play for the B.C. under-16 team at the age-group nationals in Ottawa and worked with her on the Canadian under-18 team.
They went on to win a national title together at Queen’s, where Valley got to see firsthand de Goede’s leadership, work ethic and understanding of the game.
“There was never any doubt that she would be the hardest-working player on the field, at a training session or in the weight room,” Valley said. “Pick any context. Even extend that into the academic life of student-athletes – she was always working incredibly hard and raising the bar for our squad.
“And then from an on-field perspective, she didn’t talk often but any time she spoke, she had everybody’s ear. And that’s part of what made it so effective.”
Canada coach Kevin Rouet handed de Goede the captaincy this summer.
“She’s young but she is a very talented player. She’s a good leader,” Rouet said.
While de Goede has just 14 caps, she has veterans around her including former captain Laura Russell (53 caps), Tyson Beukeboom (50 caps) and Olivia DeMerchant (49 caps).