Naya Tapper Taking on Tokyo
One of the most interesting storylines of every Olympics is seeing new athletes take the stage in their Olympic debuts. One such first-time Olympian is the American Rugby Sevens winger; Naya Tapper.
Tapper makes her Olympic debut as one of the most decorated rugby players in American history. In her young career, Tapper has already become the second all-time leading scorer of tries for the American team. She also led the Americans to the silver medal at the 2019 Pan-American Games in Lima. At just 26-years old, the North Carolina native has already made her mark on the sport of rugby.
Tapper didn’t always seem destined for this success, however. In the lead-up to these Olympic Games, Tapper revealed in an interview with WCNC Charlotte that she was cut from the American team in 2016. Her coach saw potential in her, however, and decided to put her back in the academy shortly after that.
"I'm going to put you in an academy for you to get better," Tapper recalled her coach telling her. "And if you get better, we'll rock and roll with it. And if you don't this will be the end of your career as a rugby player - with the national team at least."
This proved to be the first setback in Tapper’s rugby career that had just only started when she arrived at the University of North Carolina and decided to try out for the rugby team. Tapper had always been naturally gifted at sports, running track and field in high school, and proved to be just as adept at rugby at UNC-Chapel Hill. This is one of the reasons Tapper says she was shocked when she was cut from the team, but also took the opportunity to take the setback as a challenge to commit even further to the sport.
“If you take up the challenge, everything is not going to be easy," Tapper said, “I was waking up at 4 a.m. to go train, going back home to sleep and then going to work for 8 hours at Buffalo Wild Wings.”
From there, Tapper’s rugby career skyrocketed and the winger has developed into one of the most influential players in the game. Tapper is set to be an ambassador for a new league, Premiere Rugby Sevens (PR7s), an organization that will fight for pay equality for men and women rugby players. PR7s will be a barn-storming league that will feature one-day tournaments in select cities in the US with 6 men’s teams and 4 women’s teams.
From her fight for equal pay to her Olympic debut, Tapper has come a long way from being one of the first cuts to the American rugby team in 2016. Tapper is poised to be one of the most interesting athletes to watch during the Tokyo Olympics.