NOLA Gold signed Kenneth Jinkins for the 2020 Major League Rugby season. The 24-year-old wing is 6’2″ and 196 lbs.
Kenneth is from West Saint Paul, Minnesota and attended Henry Sibley High School in Mendota Heights. He was an All-State, All-Metro, All-Conference football player, played basketball and was on the track and field team.
Kenneth attended The College of St Scholastica in Duluth from 2014-2018 and majored in Psychology. He was a defensive back and wide receiver in football and was named to the All-UMAC first-team and the Academic All-UMAC team as a freshman. His Sophomore year he also was named to the All-UMAC team and the All-UMAC track and field team as the long jump outdoor champion. His Junior year he was a Third Team All-West selection and an All-UMAC selection again, as well as for his Senior year. He also was named to the UMAC All-Decade Team and the Scholasticas All-Decade Team.
As a scholarship player, after four years he still had some remaining credits to complete for his degree at St Scholastica. He returned home and played semi-pro football for the St Paul Pioneers for 2018-2019. He and his girlfriend Andrea then relocated to Louisiana during Summer 2019. Andrea played rugby since 8th grade and got him involved in touch rugby. This led to him playing with New Orleans Rugby Club’s sevens team over the Summer and for NOLA Gold at the Rugbytown 7s in 2019.
During Fall 2019, Kenneth played with Krewe Rugby and helped the team win the Robert Merkel Cup. His performance led to his signing a professional contract for the 2020 MLR season with NOLA Gold.
Kenneth played in the first preseason match for NOLA Gold away against Rugby ATL. He also played for New Orleans RFC in 2020.
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