SGT Joanne Fa’avesi

Women's Rugby Sevens

Sport: Women's Rugby Sevens
Hometown: Sacramento, CA
High School: Luther Burbank High
College: DeVry University
Joined Army: November 2017
MOS: 12B, Combat Engineer

In 2007, Joanne was introduced to the Sacramento Amazons for their first training of the season, and she never looked back. She played through high school, and then with a traveling all-star team. Joanne’s ascent in the sport continued when she was scouted to attend a training camp with the USA Women’s Sevens team. She made the roster for the first stop of the 2014-2015 World Rugby Series, and then contracted to train full time at the Olympic Training Center in January 2015. Since then, rugby has taken her to compete in the World Rugby Series, the Pan-American Games, the World Cup and the Olympic Games.

Being a Soldier-athlete means that I get to represent my country in more than one way. I take great pride in being both a Soldier and an athlete.

Career Highlights

2023

1st place - Pan American Games, Santiago, Chile

3rd place - HSBC World Cup, Dubai, UAE

3rd place - HSBC World Series, Cape Town, South Africa

2nd place - HSBC World Series, Hamilton, New Zealand

3rd place - HSBC World Series, Sydney, Australia

2022

5th place - HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens, Dubai, UAE

4th place - Rugby World Cup Sevens, Cape Town, South Africa

2021

3rd place - Madrid Seven’s, Madrid, Spain

2020

5th place - HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens, Hamilton, New Zealand

2019

HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens, Dubai, UAE

3rd place - HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens, Sydney, Australia

3rd place - HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens, Kitakyushu, Japan

3rd place - HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens, Langford, Canada

2018

3rd place - HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens, Langford, Canada

5th place - HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens, Paris, France

4th place - Rugby Sevens World Cup, San Francisco, CA