Queen's Women's Rugby enter the 2022 season as the defending U SPORTS national champions. They're coming off a memorable year, capturing the program's first ever national championship and doing it on their home pitch at Nixon Field last November.

Head Coach Dan Valley said that won't change the team's mind frame this year, and will only help their motivation throughout the season.

"We've got a very strong sense of what we are capable of achieving and what we need to do; what we've needed to do since the final whistle went in that gold medal match until Day One of training camp, and how we've needed to prepare," said Valley. "We enjoyed it, we celebrated it, and then we did a really nice job of closing that chapter of the story and starting the next one."

This year's version of the team got an early taste of what they can accomplish over the summer at the Garnet & Gold Classic. The Gaels took on the United States' National U20 and U23 squads over two days in Ottawa, Ont. in July, defeating the U20 squad 76-0 and the U23 squad 26-5.

"We had the really good fortune of having this opportunity to get together, prepare, and then go out and compete in July versus the USA. Everybody's feeling as though we have generated a boatload of momentum coming out of that."

"One of the big takeaways from that USA series was that was the start of the new chapter. And being able to have the success that we had against that opposition was a really cool way to start the new chapter. I think it set us up for whatever success is to come."

The Gaels finished the 2021 season with two U SPORTS First Team All Canadians in Sophie de Goede and Carmen Izyk and three U SPORTS Second Team All Canadians in Maddy Kushner, Bridget Peros, and Gill Reason. Another two Gaels joined the All Canadians as OUA All-Stars in Jaden Walker and Chloe Daniels while Daniels was also named the OUA Rookie of the Year.

Queen's lost a number of key contributors to their 2021 U SPORTS National Championship led by de Goede, who along with her All Canadian and All-Star nods was also named the U SPORTS Women's Rugby Player of the Year, OUA Female Athlete of the Year, and U SPORTS Athlete of the Year.

While Valley said it's never easy to replace strong veterans, he's excited to see players step up into bigger roles and leadership positions for this season.

"It's cool to see this succession. We have the very good fortune of having a lot of awesome leaders in our squad, whether they were in formal positions of leadership or not. It's part of that cycle, we closed the chapter on last year, and we will open the chapter on this year.  Our leadership group coming in to this year, they've had the opportunity to learn from the best, and they've got a lot of valuable experience in their own right. And the big conversation with that group coming into this year was, let's not get hung up on how you have some very big shoes to fill, but let's make sure that you're filling those shoes in your own way."

Valley stressed that he's not looking for this year's team to duplicate what was done last year to win a national championship. He said he's looking forward to seeing the Gaels success in their own mold this year.

"I think that's part of the part of the formative section of the season. The early days of the season is carving out exactly what that identity is, and how it's going to look and sound and feel. There are some elements of how we want to play the game that don't change year-to-year. It's one of those things that we directly and indirectly shape over the course of the season."

Off the pitch, Queen's Women's Rugby has consistently been involved in a number of education and outreach opportunities. While Valley said the team prefers to keep their work inhouse – they don't do the work to be congratulated, he said they want to uphold their sterling reputation on campus.

"We want to be viewed as being upstanding members of the Queen's community and the Kingston community. We don't want to be that team that calls itself family but doesn't live it. We want to be very close and tight knit."

The Gaels have medaled in the past two U SPORTS Women's Rugby Championships, earning a silver in 2019 before taking the gold on Nixon Field last season. Valley said heading into the 2022 season, the team's on-the-pitch goals remain extremely high.

"We are coming into the season with similar goals. We're not expecting to have an easy path to a championship or a U SPORTS final, but we've got a very good sense of what it takes to earn those opportunities. In that sense, that's what we are working towards. But that's the long-term stuff. That's the stuff that sits over the top of everything that we're doing. It's going to be about getting better every day and knowing the standard that we are driving towards for November."

The Gaels open their 2022 OUA regular season on the road against the York Lions on Sept. 3 at 1 p.m.