Tuttosi gives back at Souris rugby practices

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This article was published 11/04/2025 (255 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SOURIS — Regardless of how far Emily Tuttosi goes in rugby, it’s not a one-way journey.

The Souris native has spent seven seasons in the United Kingdom playing professionally, first with the Loughborough Lighting and now with the Exeter Chiefs. She not only cracked the Team Canada roster for the 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup — played in 2022 due to COVID-19 — but led the squad in scoring as it reached the medal rounds for the first time since 2014.

She’s in the middle of a push for a roster spot for the 2025 World Cup, but before heading back to train with the national team she spent a couple of afternoons training the varsity boys and girls in her hometown as they gear up for the Westman High School Rugby season.

“Any time Emily comes back — and she’s really good at giving back to the program — she does generate some excitement,” said Souris coach Brian Yon, one of Tuttosi’s first coaches.

“She went through right from the start with our youth program all the way through high school so I think the kids appreciate that because she was where they are right now.

“For all the success she’s had, especially at the international level, she’s well-known internationally and to say that she’s from here is pretty special.”

No doubt. After her remarkable run through the World Cup, including six tries as Canada went 3-0-0 in pool play and knocked off the United States 32-11 in the quarterfinals before a hard-fought 26-19 loss to England, Tuttosi was named to World Rugby’s dream team.

The players fortunate enough to learn from the area’s most decorated rugby player certainly didn’t take it for granted.

“It was amazing. She’s one of my top idols I inspire to be (like),” said sophomore Gracelyn Schroeder.

“It was really cool to see someone from Souris, a little town, go to something as giant as England and play for Team Canada.

“I was in awe of her … who she is as a person and how she plays the game.

“Skill-wise, how she takes her time and has the confidence to do whatever she has to do has really pushed me to be more confident in the sport.”

And it’s not just the girls she’s impressing. Sabres senior George Vorster, a rugby buff who moved from South Africa four years ago, already knew of Tuttosi’s pro club.

Vorster knew he was in for two incredibly valuable training sessions this week.

“I’ve had bad habits that I’ve always had,” Vorster said. “She taught me a lot about catching the ball at chest level and getting it across right away.

“Us South Africans always tend to get our elbows out to get more spin on it to make it look better. At the end of the day, it’s about getting the pass out as quick and efficient as possible.”

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the time Tuttosi spent in the Souris gymnasium, more than all the sage wisdom she imparted to the players about tackling technique and the importance of protecting their heads at all times, is the insatiable passion she has for every element of the sport.

While it’d be completely acceptable for an athlete mere months away from the biggest event of her career to focus elsewhere, she does whatever it takes to acknowledge where she came from and give back.

“It’s so much fun,” Tuttosi said. “It’s exciting to have a mix of players that have played, some that have never played, at any level of rugby I believe it should be fun and people are enjoying themselves. Especially in this environment, it’s really easy to facilitate that.”

The five-foot-seven hooker, who played for the University of Calgary Dinos before moving to the U.K., has seen how much athletes around the world benefit from playing more than just a few months out of the year like most do here.

It’s the nature of Westman’s climate, but she notes it makes these indoor sessions in the pre-season all the more critical.

“Gym skills are so important. The more you can enhance your skills, understanding and gameplay indoors, it helps being able to get the contact element once you get outdoors,” Tuttosi said.

“If you have a basic understanding, adding in the contact is a little easier than when it’s all at once.”

• • •

Tuttosi has done just about everything she can in this sport, one that takes more than it gives more often than not.

Physicality and Father Time eventually get the better of every player, though Tuttosi’s putting up a hell of a fight.

She’ll turn 30 the week of the World Cup medal matches but still has the same love and drive to improve that propelled her to unthinkable heights.

Being so close to professional titles and nearly claiming a World Cup medal keeps her motivated, as do the small steps Canada has taken to show it belongs.

It beat New Zealand on the road to win last year’s Pacific Four tournament. Canada topped France in the WXV tournament in 2024 and currently sits No. 2 in the world rankings.

“We still have to take down England but that’s what keeps you going. There’s always these little things. We’re getting closer,” Tuttosi said.

The next step is the Pacific Four, beginning May 2 in Kansas City against the U.S. Canada visits New Zealand on May 16 and then plays Australia on May 23.

It heads to South Africa and Ireland for summer tune-ups for England 2025.

“It’s all a pathway to hopefully help us be playing on September 27 at Twickenham Stadium,” Tuttosi said, reciting the date and location of the gold-medal match.

“Last World Cup we came away without a medal, which was disappointing. The Canadian group that will be going to the World Cup this year will have more experience than the last one. It was a lot of our first World Cups. It is a different level of stress, there should be more spectators, it’ll be an even bigger spectacle.

“It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. A medal would be awesome but gold is the dream.”

There’s a chance it’s Tuttosi’s last shot. The 2029 World Cup in Australia is too far off to think about at this point.

She knows she’s heading back for at least one more season with the Chiefs but knows she’s closer to the end of her career than the start.

“A thing I always ask myself is ‘Am I still having fun playing?’” Tuttosi said. “Because if the answer’s ever, ‘No,’ I need to make sure my involvement in the game is in a different way.

“It would break my heart to end because I wasn’t having fun.”

Her perspective isn’t one many athletes think about when they start this journey. For most professionals, the sport quits on them before they can quit on it. But with remarkable dedication and drive, Tuttosi’s in a position to both play at an elite level and see the bigger picture.

That is, she got to play the game she loves for at least all of her 20s, become one of the best athletes to ever come from Westman and inspire countless youngsters in the process.

“I’m a big preacher on any team I’m at that we need to have gratitude for where we are but mix that with work to be better,” Tuttosi said.

“Sometimes I do catch myself talking it for granted like, ‘Emily, you’re not good enough.’ But you have evidence you worked really hard and built up to where you are.

“When I graduated high school, I had no idea I could even be where I am today.”

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