Athlete - Rugby
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2021
Initially recruited for the Acadia women’s soccer team from North Vancouver, B.C., Andrea Burk arrived on campus in 2000 and played three seasons of soccer before following her passion and making the jump to rugby. This jump would prove successful as Burk quickly became a perennial AUS rugby all-star.
Growing up, Burk considered herself as a “jock” who was involved in various sports, but she excelled at soccer and rugby. Soccer became her primary, mainstream sport and she was selected for the National team development pool in her late teens. But rugby was always a passion and she excelled in both sports in the provincial system.
After three years of soccer at Acadia, she decided to dedicate more time to rugby. While playing soccer, she was also involved with the Axewomen rugby club during the winter sessions before eventually making the transition to university rugby.
She made the move to AUS rugby officially in 2004 and her choice quickly paid off.
In 2004, Burk was named the Atlantic University Sport’s Most Valuable Rugby Player and she repeated the feat in 2005. Burk was the first Axewoman Rugby player to be honoured as an all-Canadian two years in a row – 2004 and 2005. Burk’s rugby prowess and remarkable athletic abilities were further recognized by being named Acadia’s Female Athlete of the Year in 2005 and 2006.
Her success in university rugby launched her career that followed with Canada’s women’s national rugby team – both 15s and 7s.
In 2011, Burk was named British Columbia’s Female Rugby Player of the Year, and following her representation of Canada in rugby union at the 2014 Women’s Rugby World Cup she was named the Gillian Florence Award winner, given to a "player who best represents the qualities of Canadian rugby as voted by her teammates.”
After being part of the Canadian team that brought home a World Cup silver medal, Burk was named to the Women's Rugby World Cup Dream team in 2014. Burk was also a finalist for the Rugby Canada Player of the Year in 2016.
Since her playing days with the National team, Burk has become a motivational speaker and a rugby TV announcer, including for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) during the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and most recent 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
As a motivational speaker, Burk developed her expertise in building team cultures that thrive in highly competitive environments, resiliency, and high-level achievement through her personal experiences while earning a masters degree in Leadership at Royal Roads University, Victoria, British Columbia.
Her accomplishments while at Acadia and in the circles of international rugby competition is second to none to our many well-accomplished inductees of the Acadia Sports Hall of Fame.