Jodie Ounsley

Jodie Ounsley (born 17 January 2001)[1] is an English rugby union player who plays for Premier 15s side Exeter Chiefs Women as a winger. In 2019 she became the first deaf female rugby player to play for a senior England side and the world’s first-ever deaf female rugby sevens international. She is also a former British jiu-jitsu champion.

Jodie Ounsley
Birth nameJodie Ounsley
Date of birth (2001-01-17) 17 January 2001
Place of birthDewsbury
Height1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight74 kg (163 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing
Current team Exeter Chiefs
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2018-2020 Loughborough Lightning ()
2020-2022 Sale Sharks Women ()
2022– Exeter Chiefs Women ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2018 England U18s
National sevens team(s)
Years Team Comps
2018 England U18s
2019- England
2019 GB Women

Early life

From Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, Ounsley was born prematurely and needed medication which subsequently impacted her hearing and became profoundly deaf.[2] She had a cochlear implant as a toddler, becoming the youngest person in the country to have the procedure.[3] A high achiever in sports she was the junior world coal carrying champion on four occasions, and won five sprint titles at the Deaf Athletics Championship, and won a gold medal at the British Open Brazilian jiu-jitsu finals.[4] She attended Shelley College where her sporting endeavours were initially frustrated by a knee injury known as Osgood Schlatter Disease. She began playing rugby in October 2015 and by May 2016 was top try scorer for her age group Sandal Girls RUFC team and was representing Yorkshire under-15s.[5] She attended Loughborough College to study a degree in sports coaching.[6]

Career

Rugby union

Ounsley plays rugby with a scrum cap which protects her cochlear implant.[7] In 2018 Ounsley won the young Deaf Sports Personality award, following a year in which she scored for Yorkshire in the County Championship final held at Twickenham Stadium, represented England U18s against Wales U18s at the Principality Stadium, and signed for Premier 15s side Loughborough Lightning as well as being part of a winning World Deaf Rugby Sevens Championship side.[8] In 2019 she earned her first senior England rugby sevens cap having previously played for the 15’s and 7’s England team at Under 18’s level.[9] In doing so she became the world’s first-ever deaf female rugby sevens player to be selected for a full international and the first deaf female rugby player to play for a senior England side.[10][11] Awarded a full-time England 7s contract she made her World Sevens Series debut in Glendale, Colorado, and scored her first try in the event in Cape Town, South Africa, in December 2019.[12]

In February 2020 Ounsley was included in the GB Women rugby sevens provisional squad for the 2020 Summer Olympics.[13] She won the Deaf Sports Personality of the Year 2020 award.[14] In July 2020 Ounsley joined Premier 15s side Sale Sharks Women.[15] In 2022 she signed for Exeter Chiefs Women.[16]

Gladiators

In May 2023, Ounsley was named as ‘Fury’, one of the new Gladiators in a reboot of the television series of the same name to be broadcast on BBC One.[17][18]

Personal life

Her father Phil was a former professional mixed martial artist and her younger brother also played rugby.[19][20] Ounsley is an ambassador for The Elizabeth Foundation charity, a pre-school nursery for deaf children.[21][22] In 2021 Ounsley launched Not Just Anyone (NJA), a story telling platform designed to inspire younger generations.[23][24] She is the Honorary President of UK Deaf Sport, in 2023 she was named among Woman’s Hour Power List 2023 Women in Sport.[25]

References
  1. "Jodie Ounsley". Exeter Chiefs. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  2. Marshall, Lucy (22 August 2022). "'Inspirational' Yorkshire England Rugby player opens up about life as a deaf woman". Examiner Live. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  3. Cook, Julia (4 December 2019). "How England Rugby 7s star Jodie Ounsley is paving the way". uk.sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  4. "Inspirational Jodie earns England deaf rugby call-up". Yorkshire Evening Post. 10 May 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  5. "Jodie Ounsley took up rugby last October … now she's scoring tries for Yorkshire". Silentgrapevine.com. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  6. "LOUGHBOROUGH COLLEGE'S JODIE OUNSLEY MAKES ENGLAND RUGBY SEVENS DEBUT IN USA". loucoll.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  7. ""Genge is an inspiration" – Five rugby union players who live with disabilities". Ruck.co.uk. 10 March 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  8. English, Justin (21 November 2018). "SANDAL'S JODIE OUNSLEY WINS YOUNG DEAF SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR - CONGRATULATIONS!". Sandalrufc. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  9. Harrison, Janet (19 December 2019). "Deaf England Rugby Union star tells of challenges". Harrogate Advertiser.
  10. Tomas, Fiona (8 October 2021). "Meet England Sevens and Sale star Jodie Ounsley: 'I scored a try and could not even hear the whistle'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  11. Cook, Julia. "England 7s star Jodie Ounsley continues to break barriers". Sports Gazette. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  12. McKenna, Ben (22 August 2020). "Rugby Sevens Crisis - Dewsbury teen Jodie Ounsley clinging to her Olympic dreams". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  13. "Loughborough athletes named in extended GB Women's Rugby Sevens squad". lboro.ac.uk. 25 February 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  14. "AMBASSADOR: Jodie Ounsley heard the amazing news at Nandos". didirugby.com. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  15. Wallworth, Luke (27 July 2020). "Sale Sharks Women sign England Sevens player Jodie Ounsley". Salford Now. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  16. "England Rugby Star Jodie Ounsley On Not Letting Deafness Stop Her". Absolutely Yorkshire. 7 November 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  17. Macdonald, Siobhan (3 May 2023). "First Gladiator stars revealed as ex-rugby player and UK fittest man champion". Daily Record. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  18. "Ex-England rugby player and UK Fittest Man champion named as first Gladiators". Irish News. 3 May 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  19. "Inspirational Jodie Ounsley Breaking Down Barriers On and Off the Rugby Pitch". Women.Rugby. 9 September 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  20. Cartwright, Elizabeth (21 November 2021). "Team GB and Sale star Jodie Ounsley: 'Talking about my journey gives me strength to help others'". Talking Rugby Union. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  21. "England rugby player, Jodie Ounsley, endorses school's support for deaf charity". gsa.uk.com. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  22. McKenna, Ben (7 April 2020). "England Sevens star Jodie Ounsley preparing for 24-hour fundraiser to aid deaf charity The Elizabeth Foundation". Wakefield Express. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  23. Howe, Olivia (1 September 2021). ""Sharing our personal journeys is incredibly powerful" Jodie Ounsley". Athlete Media. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  24. "Inspiring the next generation with Jodie Ounsley". girlsrugbyclub. 20 May 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  25. "Congratulations Jodie Ounsley!". ukdeafsport. 30 March 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
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