From green to the pride of the maroon and gold

How Fallon Coulouris impacted the field as the Stingers women’s rugby captain

SportsFeatureConor Tomalty — Published October 22, 2024 5 minutes

Among the candidates were senior players who comprised the team’s leadership group: Roxanne Galarneau, Catherine Ann Blenkhorn, Madeleine McTavish and Fallon Coulouris.

The team huddled in a meeting room, paying attention to head coach Craig Beemer’s slide show. The announcement was blunt, as Beemer simply stated: “Here’s your new captain,” pressed a button, and a picture of Coulouris was displayed on the screen.

“I don’t know if I handled that exactly appropriately,” said Beemer, who also coaches the prop on the Montreal Wanderers Rugby Club team. Because of his relationship with Coulouris, it was how he wished to deliver the news.

“I started crying,” Coulouris said. “I just felt so lucky and grateful that everyone would vote for me in the first place because I never thought [captaincy] would ever happen for me here.”

Coulouris came to Concordia by way of the Dawson College Blues. She had played rugby for three-odd years when a former teammate with the Blues, Rachel Swabey, told Coulouris about Stingers recruitment day. On a whim, Coulouris and long-time teammate and fellow Stinger Steve Kalaydjian attended the meet.

Coulouris was impressed by the level of dedication and resources Concordia’s program had compared to Dawson. The initial idea was to attend McGill University following her Child Studies program in CEGEP, but she promptly changed her mind.

“I couldn’t even visit McGill,” Coulouris said. “After that [event], I literally put in my application for Concordia.”

She was incredibly green when she arrived at Concordia. As Kalaydjian detailed, Coulouris lacked a great deal of confidence.

“I remember how nervous she was and how scared she was before and after every practice,” Kalaydjian said. “She would be really emotional and she would get in her head about things.”

“I’ve heard the stories: overwhelmed at many moments in her first year about the level and everything like that,” said Beemer, who became head coach in Coulouris’s fourth year. “But that’s the real positive of a university situation.”

When asked about what aided Coulouris’s development, Beemer mentioned that the program was “as close to a professional environment” as an athlete could experience under the guise of former head coach Jocelyn Barrieau. 

“It was this thing that Joce[lyn] Barrieau said once in practice,” Coulouris said. “Accepting that I am a good player was a big change in my mentality.”

With the resources available to her, Coulouris’s dedication is what brought her to where she is today.

“[Coulouris] is a product of her work ethic and her humility,” Beemer said. “She’s one of those players I enjoy working with because as much as everyone loves a compliment, she works hard to get better every day.”

“The first thing I have to note is [her] confidence,” said Kalaydjian, speaking on how Coulouris has grown. “She’s a lot more assertive and a lot more outspoken. She went from being someone who followed what the leaders were saying to [someone who] now implements all of that into her leadership skills.”

Twenty-four of the 38 players on Concordia’s roster are in either their first or second year of university play. As a leader and captain, Coulouris is tasked with getting the slew of freshman talent acclimated with U Sports competition. She spoke on the legacy impact, and ensuring that the program continues to find success.

“I feel such a big responsibility for the team and the image of the team and how we prepare,” she said. “It’s not only my responsibility, it’s everyone else’s too. It’s why we’re a team sport, we all have to do our part.”

Coulouris adds a mix of empathy and accountability that is a unique blend of her experience being a timid freshman and the expectations of the program, according to Beemer.

“I’m really happy with how Fallon has taken her role seriously as captain,” he said. “We now have this empathetic person that will hug you and be there for you, and then you have the other side of the coin [...] where it’s like, ‘No, this is not good enough.’”

Coulouris set the tone on the field. On several occasions this season, she registered 20 points on four tries, was named player of the match and converted 100 per cent of her tackles in three matches. The team placed third in the overall table with a record of 4-2. 

A semi-final loss to the Université Laval Rouge et Or on Oct. 12 ended their season, but there is an upside. Two years prior, a regular season contest between the two schools saw Laval cruise to a 78-0 victory. Given that the 2024 iteration ended with a 17-7 Laval win, the growth is measurable. 

The loss also spelled the end of Coulouris’s U Sports tenure. When asked about the program’s future, she stated that more advertisements for the team and fans in the stands would be appreciated.

“It’s a privilege to be a Stinger,” she said. “We dedicate a lot of our time and spend so many hours here because we love this sport and we love this university, so it would be nice sometimes to have more support from people.”

Coulouris’s love for the program and passion extends far beyond the confines of Concordia Stadium. She also works as a fitness instructor for Orangetheory Fitness and hosts a podcast called No is Not a Curse Word. 

“I got into this mentality of ‘why am I holding myself back?’” Coulouris said, speaking about finding the confidence to pursue these other passions. “At the end of the day, if I can present myself and give people no reason to doubt me and my abilities, then that’s all I can do.”

When asked about any advice Coulouris would give herself in freshman year, it was that dedication goes a long way.

“When I came into the program, we had Lia Hoyte and Alex [Tessier] and all those people who I looked up to [and wished] I could only be like 25 per cent as good as they are,” Coulouris said. “To have grown into that and really gained that confidence, especially from Beemer [...] It’s really just anything is possible if you work hard and put your mind to it.”

Yet, the most encapsulating experience of Coulouris’s care is seen post-game. After 80 minutes of hard-fought play and bruises on her face and arms, Coulouris stays to hug and chat with the copious amounts of attendees, even replacing handshakes with reporters for a warm hug instead.

This article originally appeared in Volume 45, Issue 4, published October 22, 2024.