Studies, leadership and rugby: Corinne Fréchette among the Top 8 Academic All-Canadians
For Corinne Fréchette, excellence has never been an end goal, but a balance to be maintained between commitment, rigour and meaning.
As a student athlete with the Université Laval Rouge et Or, the rugby player has built an academic pathway along which athletic performance, academic success and community involvement move in tandem, without ever competing with each other.
Selected among U SPORTS’ Top 8 Academic All-Canadians for 2024-2025, Fréchette ends her university career with a feeling of gratitude and astonishment.
“I wasn’t expecting it at all,” she confided.
“I wanted to do well in school, but I never thought it would lead to an honour like this one.”
This distinction is the crowning achievement of a solid academic career. Enrolled in a Master’s in Educational Psychology, Fréchette maintained a cumulative GPA of 4.11 throughout the 2024-25 academic year, after completing a bachelor in sports intervention. A field of studies that remains close to her values.
“I’ve always wanted to give meaning to what I was doing at school, not just be there to stay in the sport.”
On the field, Fréchette made a name for herself as one of the Rouge et Or rugby program’s key players. She was a core contributor in their quest for a third championship in four seasons and saw herself named a U SPORTS First Team All-Canadians for the fourth year in a row. But for her, rugby is about more than statistics and honours.
“It’s an extremely inclusive sport,” she says. “No matter your size, your journey or your history with sports, you’ll find your place. It’s a very strong, very compassionate community.”
Fréchette says she likes the complexity and intelligence of the sport.
“You’re always making decisions, adapting, trying to understand the rhythm of the game. It’s never still.”
This constant demand has shaped her approach, both as an athlete and as a student.
Her time with the Rouge et Or was and always will be a unique experience, she says. In nearly six seasons, she avoided major injuries, racking up provincial and national titles alongside her teammates.
“It’s a mini community. You live together, you grow up together. For me, it was extraordinary from start to finish.”
One moment stands out in particular: the 2023 championship, played on home soil.
“We were playing for something bigger than us,” she recalls. “For the jersey, for the logo, for our fans. It was magical.”
She was also named MVP, a memory she qualifies as multifactorial, as it solidified the collective and individual effort.
Fréchette’s legacy doesn’t end at the try line. Off the field, she became an agent of change. She participated in launching an ethics committee within the Rouge et Or athletics department.
Her community involvement also came in the form of coaching and mentorship. A secondary and collegiate level coach throughout her university career, Fréchette saw in these roles a real way to create impact.
“I didn’t want to just teach rugby,” she said.
“I wanted to help young girls find their confidence, to be comfortable in their environment, to become better people.”
This desire to give back is at the core of her current academic path. In her master’s, she’s interested in violence in sport, and the training needs of sports managers, a subject that even today remains under documented.
“When you understand that what you do can have a concrete impact on the community, it becomes very motivating,” she explains.
“We’re students before athletes, and humans above all else.”
For Fréchette, scholastic achievement was never a question of a secret recipe, but of coherence.
“When you really get involved and you find a reason for what you’re doing, it’s a lot easier to be motivated.”
As her university career comes to an end, the Top 8 Academic All-Canadian honour is the cherry on top.
A rare moment, highlighting a journey led with intention, balance and commitment, as much on the field as within the university community.
“When you realize that what you’re doing can have a real purpose, it changes the way you see things.”