Article by Thomas M. French, Michigan ’57
Pictured above: Olivia Apps – Silver Medalist, Canada Women’s Rugby
Olivia Apps is my granddaughter. Olivia is 25 years old and is captain of the Canadian Women’s Sevens Rugby team and this past summer, as leader of her team, won a silver medal at the 2024 Olympic games in Paris, France. I am incredibly proud of her achievements.
Olivia was raised in Ontario, Canada and was introduced to rugby in Grade 10 at her local high school in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. She quickly advanced from high school Rugby, playing with the Ontario 15’s team and she was a member of the Canada’s 2018 Commonwealth Games. After finishing high school, Olivia was accepted at Queen’s University and offered a Rugby scholarship. She elected to postpone this opportunity in favour of her selection on the Senior Women’s Sevens team, a team that had just won a bronze medal in the 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Olivia left home and began her Rugby career training full time with the team, centralized in Victoria, BC.
In June 2021, Olivia was named to Canada’s 2020 Olympic team in Tokyo and in September of that year, she was named Captain of the Canada Women’s Sevens national rugby team. Olivia has competed for Canada around the globe beginning the tournament season in Dubai, traveling to New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Japan, the UK and Europe finishing on home field in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The team was considered the underdog heading into this recent Olympics coming to the field in 9th position. Under Olivia’s leadership, the team won a silver medal, coming from 0-12 behind to defeat Australia 21-12 in the semi-finals, before losing the final to New Zealand, a team consistently ranked number one in the world.
On July 8, 2023, Olivia made her debut for Canada’s fifteens team against New Zealand at Ottawa. This year and 2025, she plans to play for Canada both on the sevens and 15’s team and the Saracens Rugby Club, a professional rugby union club based in London.
Olivia is the daughter of Alfred Apps and my daughter, Danielle. Olivia has 4 sisters and two nieces, and it is a family that is close and supportive of all of their achievements. At seven years old, she was diagnosed with alopecia universalis, which caused her to lose all her body hair. The CBC created a documentary about Olivia, which beautifully portrays her life decisions. With the support of her family, she embraced her beauty and her hair loss while being comfortable and proud of herself in her own skin. It is how she embraces her life, not afraid to get into the fire on and off the field and is always an inspiration to not only her teammates but to others.
Thomas M. French, Michigan ’57
