Jade Konkel

Jade Konkel grew up in a small place on the Black Isle in the Highlands. She has always loved sport, and grew a love of rugby from an early age after spending her Saturdays watching her dad play at the local rugby club.

However, there was a lack of rugby opportunities for girls in her area, so at 17 she made the seven-hour round trip to trial for a development day in Edinburgh which subsequently led to her being selected for the Scotland U20s programme.

After the programme, she was then invited into the senior Scotland squad at 18 years old, and in Feb 2013 she played her very first game for Scotland and has been playing and representing Scotland ever since.

During this time she also began her studies in Social Work at GCU as it meant she could achieve her degree while also being in a great location for training in her Glasgow rugby team at the time.

She is now currently living in London playing for the Harlequins in the top-flight Premiership in England. She is also an operational Firefighter with London Fire Brigade which she balances alongside her rugby career.

Jade explained that she is “extremely excited" about her career and "feels positive" about setting up a career she is passionate about during and after her rugby career.

In the future, Jade is hoping to make it into the 2025 World Cup squad for Scotland while also continuing and growing in her role as a firefighter.