The Seattle Seawolves signed Canadian international Karsten Leitner for the 2020 Major League Rugby season. The 25-year-old wing is 6’1″ and 210 lbs.
Karsten is from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and attended St. George’s School from 2008-2013. He played First XV rugby, First XI soccer, and varsity squash. He attended the University of British Columbia from 2013-2016 majoring in political science and government. He also played for the Thunderbirds Rugby Club, BC Premiership League Championships from 2013-2015, and back-to-back 7s titles at the Las Vegas Invitational. He transferred to the University of Victoria in 2016 and earned with Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Government and Business (Marketing) in 2019. He also played for the Men’s Varsity Vics Rugby team.
Karsten represented St. George’s at the British Columbia Secondary Schools Rugby Union U18s in 2013 with the team advancing to the final. He also helped the school win the British Columbia 7s Championship that year. He captained the Lower Mainland Selects against the Canada U17s the previous year.
He played club rugby with the UBCOB Ravens in the CDI Premier League, and provincial rugby for the BC Bears. In 2017 the Bears won the Mactier Cup over the Ontario Blues.
Karsten represented Canada in the World Rugby U20 Trophy competition in 2015. He played for the Canada Sevens team from 2016-2018, playing in 17 World Series matches, played for Canada A in 2017 at the Americas Pacific Challenge in Montevideo, Uruguay, and in 2018 for Canada Selects against the Toronto Arrows.
He also played rugby sevens at the 2017 Rugbytown Sevens for the UBCOB Sevens and at the GFI Hong Kong Tens with Tiger Rugby in 2019. Karsten is a member of Rugby Canada’s centralized program. He was slated to join Rugby ATL for the 2020 season, however, visa delays prevented his inclusion during the truncated MLR season.
Seattle Seawolves Comments
“Humbled for the opportunity to be a part of a championship franchise, that not only seeks greatness on the field but to grow the game and benefit the Seattle community as a whole,” said Leitner. “I’m looking forward to competing day in and day out, with a great group of players in our hunt for a third championship.”
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