Rachel Berta, a 5-foot-7 midfielder from St. Mary's, Ont., is the first-ever McGill player to earn the OUA nomination for the Gail Wilson trophy presented to the top all-around student-athlete in CIS field hockey, in memory of the former UBC head coach.
She was elected team captain of the Martlets in 2011.
The 20-year-old cognitive science junior is the holder of a prestigious Greville-Smith entrance scholarship. She has maintained a 3.75 grade-point average (out of 4), meriting CIS Academic All-Canadian honours as well as qualifying for the Principal's Student-athlete honour roll.
She initiated a fundraising campaign for the Martlets and organized an alumni game against the current squad as part of Homecoming festivities. Under her prompting, the Martlets have branched out into the community and set up skills clinics for the sport at various elementary and high schools on the South Shore region of Montreal. She and her teammates have also volunteered to umpire games at the school level.
A tutor for freshmen in chemistry and physics, Berta also volunteers with the Quebec Field Hockey Federation, where she serves as a co-junior development coordinator, to promote the sport at the collegiate level by helping to bridge the gap between high school and university levels of field hockey. She organized and coached the first field hockey program at Champlain College in 2011 and plans on expanding it to Dawson College in the future.
