It's safe to say this year has been a memorable one for Dauphin's Monique Coffey.
The 20-year-old Dauphinite was first named to the U20 Team Canada reserve roster. Fast forward to earlier this week.
Playing in her third season at Acadia University, Coffey was named an Atlantic University Sport All-Star for her contributions to the Axewomen rugby program.
"I'm very proud of it and it shows the hard work that I've been putting into the game has paid off," said Coffey. "This is what I've been working towards, and it's just a really special honour."
"It makes me feel really good about my abilities," she added. "I'm confident I can use them going forward to help this team win games."
There's no doubt that Monique works nearly around the clock during the season. That's not the only time she's grinding away though.
"I played on a couple different teams out here in the off-season to stay sharp," added Coffey. "I was always working on my cardio, sprinting and working hard. If you don't work hard in the off-season, you'll come into the regular season all out of sorts, so it was important that I worked hard all year."
Coffey and the rest of the Axewomen wrapped up their AUS Conference this past weekend with a loss in the Championship.
"It was definitely disappointing losing that game," said Coffey. "We know we have the abilities to beat St. FX, but we just couldn't get it done."
Just because they lost the final, it doesn't mean that's it for Coffey and the group. They will host the National Championships that start up this weekend.
"I'm so excited to get the chance to play in the nationals and just see what the entire country has to offer," said Coffey. "We're pretty confident as a group that we can make something special happen."
"I think I'll be able to help the team this weekend with the little things we need to do in order to have success," she added. "I have the drive that's needed, and I just can't wait to get things going."
So Monique was named to the U20 Team Canada reserve roster and she's been named a Conference All-Star all within a year. Is being named a National Champion next? Time will tell.
The team's quarterfinal matchup comes against the Ottawa Gee-Gees. You can catch all the action at Acadia vs Ottawa.
