From school 7s to the national team: Meet deaf rugby captain Sydnee Cooke

After discovering rugby at school, Sydnee is now preparing to lead Australia on the world stage in Tokyo.

Sydnee Cooke grew up a dancer and a touch-footballer.

“My first experience of rugby was playing for fun in a school 7’s competition,” said Sydnee. “I busted my lip open, and from there I was hooked”

“I love rugby because of the intensity and physical aspect of the game. It makes me feel incredible strong, focus and powerful on the field.”

Growing up in Canberra, Sydnee was introduced to deaf sports through deaf community, with her start in touch football graduating to the rugby, and in 2019 a spot in the Australian Deaf Women’s team.

“I’m incredibly grateful to the Canberra deaf community – they introduced me to deaf sports and helped me find my confidence as a deaf athlete.”

Deaf Rugby was founded in Wales in 1998, with the Australian team being established in 2001.

The program built its name through international men’s tours before a landmark moment in 2018: Sydney hosted the first-ever World Deaf Rugby Sevens World Cup, welcoming 180 deaf athletes, including the first international women’s tournament in the sport’s history. Since then, the Australian squads have competed in Argentina in 2023 and now preparing for the 2026 World Cup in Japan, which takes place in late October and November

In the build-up to the tournament, the President of Australian Deaf Rugby Dave Kearsay had hinted to Sydnee she might make a good captain. But news of her appointment came in a much more modern way.

“I won’t lie, I found out officially through social media when the team line-up was announced!” Sydnee said

“Dave had previously mentioned to me that he believed I would be a great representative of ADR’s core values and that really built my confidence ahead of the official announcement.”

Sydnee will compete while on leave from her career as a cyber security specialist at leading consultancy, Scyne. Scyne provides special ‘sporting leave’ of five days paid annual leave for employees participating in national or international sporting events

Sydnee is an incident responder at Scyne, having worked her way up from a apprenticeship in IT service with a government agency.

She encourages other other deaf kids to give deaf sports, particularly rugby a try: “It teaches you so many brilliant skills – teamwork, coordination, and resilience – and it gives you the wonderful opportunity to meet new people and make lifelong friends. If you’re thinking about trying it, definitely give it a go.”

The road to Japan is already underway. The team gathers for a national training camp in Sydney from 26–28 October before flying to Tokyo, with the tournament running from 31 October through to the Finals on 3 November. Sydnee’s personal prep has been relentless – four gym sessions and two field runs every week – but she’s made sure to build in some joy too, extending her stay after the tour to explore Japan.

Her sporting hero? Fellow Australian Ashley Marsters – “an incredible utility player, super strong and powerful, and a great representative of the game.” It’s not hard to see the same words could describe Sydnee herself.