Shalaya Valenzuela is a competitor; she wants to win rugby games. Above that, she burns to play in the biggest moments on the biggest stage: the Olympics. Going to the Olympics as Team Canada’s extra roster player made it unlikely she would get onto the field at the 2024 Olympics. But just before the match against home nation France, Valenzuela got the call: she was in for the quarter-final.
“There’s lots of nerves and lots of excitement. When you’ve been thinking about something happening for basically your whole rugby career — one of my biggest goals is to reach the Olympics. Then I’m right there, on the sideline, running out of the tunnel. It’s an out-of-body experience; it doesn’t feel real. You can’t really put it into words, because it’s so much excitement, but also so much fear, anxiety, all these emotions.”
Playing in the quarter-final assured her a medal, something she’s eager to show loved ones from her hometown following Canada’s silver medal win in Women’s Rugby Sevens.
“I feel like it won’t really sink in until I’m at home, surrounded by friends and family… I just want to get home and show my little brothers, and show my friends in Abbotsford that I grew up with, and thank the people that helped me get here.”
Valenzuela joined her team on the field following the gold medal game against New Zealand; an extremely special moment to her personally. She recalls how the stadium full of fans gave them a great amount of support during their Olympic run and had sincere sportsmanship.
“When I was standing on the podium getting the medal, I took a huge deep breath in, thinking I’m gonna faint or pass out. This is something you watch on TV as a kid, and look at these athletes in awe, and then all of a sudden, I’m standing there. I have my girlfriend in the crowd, and there’s people watching back at home. All those things were flashing in my head; ‘it’s crazy that I’m here right now.’ Getting a medal sums up every single person and every experience that was part of the journey. Now it’s kind of like, what do I do with myself?”
Valenzuela is constantly pushing: her teammates, the pace of play, and for more opportunity. She doesn’t expect anything to be given to her — she wants to take it herself. Valenzuela knows that if she puts in the hard work, things will work themselves out the way they’re supposed to. If she grinds day in and day out, the right people will notice. It’s about being ready for when she gets called upon.
“Being an athlete is a mindset. You might not have the best skills, or you might not be the fastest, or the strongest on the team… but if you’re working the hardest, putting in the most effort, and you have integrity, work ethic, determination, resilience — all those really strong mental values — that’s what makes an athlete. Everyone can be athletic, but what makes a true athlete is who pushes themselves the hardest. Who’s working the hardest next to you on the field — who lifts up other people’s craft?”
Going from a non-invitee to camp — to Auxerre for training — then to Paris on the national team and ending up on the podium is quite a whirlwind. Valenzuela is a fighter, a scrapper. She made it impossible for Team Canada not to invite her to training, a testament to her effort level in practice and importance to her teammates. She scratched and clawed her way onto the roster for Paris as the extra player, and didn’t lose focus.
“The 2024 Olympic roster was released, and unfortunately I wasn’t on it. I had to go through a quick mental process and just be upset, but put the team first and to continue pushing them to be in the best place to compete. A week before the pre-Olympic camp in Auxerre, coach Jack Hanratty invited me in and said, ‘we need how hard you’re pushing at training to lift up the team in France.’ A week later he asked if I wanted to come to the Olympic village as a reserve. I said, ‘of course’ and kept the same mindset — keep pushing the team and fighting hard.”
The 2024 Olympics weren’t necessarily long on Valenzuela’s radar. In only her second year with the national program, Valenzuela was aware of the work she needed to do to become a more complete player. She had steps to take, and a short runway, so going to Paris was an unexpected surprise.
“Even when I started at Maple Leaf Development Academy, I didn’t think the Olympics was a possibility. At that point the 2024 Olympics was in two years, and I’m just getting my foot in the door with the Academy, and I knew I had so much learning to do. I told myself I could do it for 2028, but 2024 is just a little bit too close. I was feeling like a bit of an underdog showing up to the training facility. It’s definitely my will that I’ve gotten here and at the end of the day, I’m really proud of myself for pushing through.”
UFV is where Valenzuela began her varsity rugby career and still holds a special place in her heart. Representing Abbotsford is something she had an enormous amount of respect for, and she hopes her story is a footnote in the story of UFV Rugby. B.C. is rapidly expanding in population, and Valenzuela believes that rugby deserves more funding in the Lower Mainland.
“Going into UFV, it was a smaller team and it was very easy to find your place when you got there. I had a sense of pride because I’m from Abbotsford B.C., and that’s where the school is. I loved playing from home and representing Abbotsford when I played in varsity.”
Valenzuela hopes to serve as not a beacon of hope, but a reassuring voice to those involved with the Cascades currently. She wants them to think if she can do it, then they can too — she started in the same place as every other Cascade.
“I tried to help build rugby up. A couple of players that I played with at UFV Ashlynn Smith and Mackenzie Fowler; the three of us worked together to try to make a name for UFV. Ashlynn went on to play fifteens for Canada!”
It’s unlikely Valenzuela would have remained a Cascade for the duration of her career if the program had continued on. She wanted to push herself in a way that only a large scale university can offer in the way of funding.
“Unfortunately, in the last couple years the UFV sevens program shut down. It’s pretty sad… I hope that they will be able to open that up again one day. I feel that they need to take more initiative in the Fraser Valley with how much talent is coming from rugby there, and hopefully get some funding to open up a rugby program again.”
Children and youth getting the chance to play rugby, or sports in general in her home province, is something Valenzuela hopes to champion on throughout her career. She knows first hand how strong the competition is, and how aspiring top-level athletes would flourish if more had the chance to stay at home to play their sport.
“I remember feeling like — this is it! I didn’t know how much further I would go. I was so happy to represent UFV, that was where it all started.”
If you told Valenzuela during her time at UFV that she would have her own piece of Olympic hardware, she probably wouldn’t have believed you. It wasn’t due to her lack of ability, her confidence on the field, or her desire to compete with the best, though. Valenzuela is of Tseshaht First Nation descent, and had additional barriers to hurdle both mentally and physically on her Olympic conquest. Valenzuela embraces her journey, and hopes that athletes growing up in Abbotsford, or going to UFV, feel like they can author their own historic stories.
“I’m learning to embrace being Indigenous and what makes me, me. When I was younger, I knew I was Indigenous, but it wasn’t something that I was proud of. There’s a stigma around Indigenous youth, a feeling that you don’t fit in as much or like you don’t belong. There’s intergenerational trauma, and kids are affected by that. It’s tough to look outside your bubble and feel like you can pursue your dreams. My grandma was in a residential school, and that trickled down and affected my dad directly. He didn’t have the easiest life, and a single mom raised me. I was in foster care growing up for a couple years, and I feel like I really resonate with Indigenous youth.”
Her advice to those struggling with the same conflicts she faced growing up is to never try to be someone you’re not. Times might be tough, but letting things go, having a short memory, and truly feeling freedom in who you are is what has enabled Valenzuela to soar past the limits other people placed on her.
“Be proud. Take pride in who you are, and where you come from, and where you’re raised, and who you’re raised by. Every single person is in a different walk of life, but I feel like when you truly embrace who you are and where you come from, you stop letting others dictate what your limits are. There’s been comments made about my childhood, or how I grew up, or where I came from, who my parents were — as a kid you really hold onto those things that people say about you — it’s very hard to look past.”
Valenzuela has removed anything that could be considered an excuse from her vocabulary. Listening to her speak, it seems undeniable that she would end up on the podium; she’s headstrong, prepared, and authentic. Her secret talent might be her processing speed. She gets dealt a blow, and immediately bounces back. Valenzuela wears Abbotsford on her sleeve, and her mentality was crafted and molded by the city she grew up in.
“I excelled in school and sports; it was all a mindset of, ‘I’m not gonna let these people tell me differently.’ It started off with a little bit of anger that lit a fire underneath me. It seemed as if ‘these people don’t think I’m capable of being successful’ in high school. It just pissed me off. I wanted to prove people wrong at that point, but it turned into taking ownership of who I am and where I came from, and telling my story.”
She doesn’t hold grudges; there’s no room for resentment in her life. There’s no hard feelings about anything that anyone has said earlier in her career. Valenzuela isn’t saving receipts. While it may have served as fuel in the early goings of varsity rugby, she has higher ambitions.
“I hope Indigenous youth hear that, and see the things I’ve gone through, and they realize it’s possible if you’re just willing to put in the work, and ‘don’t listen to the haters’, as they say.”
As for the village behind her, Valenzuela is quick to credit those who have given her direction throughout her career. From small gestures, to long lasting comradery, she doesn’t forget those who have supported her all the way from the beginning. Valenzuela cherishes her roots within Abbotsford and is eager to get involved again with her home community.
“There’s so many people who are part of the journey. Al Borrows, he’s an OG high school coach that believed in me. Mr. Primrose from Yale secondary, supported me non-stop through club rugby growing up. I see him every time I go back to Abbotsford; I’ve helped run camps and practices with him at Yale. Darcy Patterson, she got me into more elite sevens. She did all my B.C. elite seven tournaments — she’s going to be coaching me at UBC, so it’s a full circle moment.”
The way Valenzuela pivots her focus only briefly in our conversation to the next summer Olympics was pointed and sharp. She knows she didn’t get to play in the gold medal game in Paris, but she also knows her best game is still ahead of her. What drives a silver medal athlete? It would keep her up at night years from now if she didn’t give herself the absolute best shot she had to be in the top 12 in 2028. She got a taste, and now she’s storming ahead, shifting her peripherals, and giving it every ounce of what she has to be a difference maker for Team Canada.
“I definitely have four or five more years of rugby left in me. If anything, I’m just getting started. It’s only my second year on the senior team and my body’s been good. I’ve been healthy mentally, able to handle the load, and you get used to it every year, being able to manage time and your body. I’m feeling fresh, and I’m ready to go for another four years.”
Making the next Olympic team, let alone winning another medal, isn’t going to be an easy task. Valenzuela knows that. She knows she might get knocked down on the way there. After her experience in Paris, though, she knows how much better she needs to get, and has a much larger training period than she had for the 2024 games.
“I hope to see myself at the 2028 Olympics in L.A. I was about to make a post before being asked to Paris because I wanted to touch base with friends and family. At the end of the post I typed something about how ‘it doesn’t end here; I’ll see you at the 2028 Olympics.’ I was about to post that, when my coach said to me ‘do you want to come to the Paris Olympics?’ So I never made the post.”
Valenzuela’s end goal is to graduate from UFV with a criminal justice degree, of which she’s completed two years. She wants to finish what she’s started, but needs to balance that with another process of ramping up her training schedule over the next four years. Valenzuela can sense these are about to be the prime years of her career, and honestly, would you bet against her?
