By David Cummings
When Ashbury College grad Ella Beltran heads to Kingston next season, the Queen’s University Gaels will add more than just a gritty scrum half to their roster, they’ll be gaining a player with rugby in her blood.
Love of the game runs deep in Ella’s family, with both of her parents having played rugby in high school. She’s also got Ashbury in her veins, with her father Andres as a coach of the Colts junior boys’ rugby squad. Andres himself passed on a love for the game that he inherited from his own father and Ella’s grandfather, Eddy Beltran, who moved to London, England from Colombia as a child.
“He came to Canada with this whole rugby sport he had played and so he got me into it,” Andres recounts.
Also sharing that passion for rugby was Ella’s mom, Kerry Starr, so it was only natural they would pass the tradition along to Ella and her younger siblings, Henry and Lexi.
“It was in the family already, so I kind of grew up playing,” Ella explains.
At the club level, she first joined the Ottawa Ospreys Rugby Football Club when she was 12 years old. Later, Andres coached her a few seasons with the Bytown Blues and then for the U16 Eastern Ontario Regional Selects team in 2023. That same year, Ella was selected for the Ontario Blues provincial team.
Whether her dad is coaching or in the bleachers, Ella says she could always count on her dad’s support.
“He’s always the loudest on the sideline,” she smiles. “It means a lot just having that support on the sideline and knowing that he’s there for me.”
But in a family that loves rugby as much as the Beltrans, it’s a toss-up for which parent can make the most noise.
“I would think it’s my dad but then I watch the film back and I always hear my mom yelling,” Ella adds. “I’d say both.”
All this laid the foundation for Ella to take off as a scrum half for the Colts throughout her high school career. Recognizing the importance of cross-training in pursuit of growth in rugby, Ella took her talents to basketball and skiing throughout her years at Ashbury, even winning three OFSAA gold medals with the alpine ski team.
Her time management was further tested when she was voted the school’s athletic prefect for her graduating year, where she took on a key leadership role in Ashbury’s athletic community.
Even with all that success away from the rugby pitch, Ella’s number one focus never wavered from her family’s tradition. At Queen’s next season, Ella will have a chance to further narrow her focus to really “eat, sleep, breathe rugby.”
“I’m super excited to have a change of pace and be able to train with the team all the time,” she indicates.
Even as Ella takes off to Kingston in the fall, the support of her family back home is only a two-hour drive away.
“We know that she’s just got an amazing rugby family and rugby community to lean on and see her through the thick and thin,” Andres highlights.
Queen’s won’t be entirely unfamiliar territory for Ella. In August 2024, she had the chance to live on campus for a week while training with Rugby Canada’s U18 development camp. Ella says the experience gave her a look at the next level of rugby competition and ultimately pushed her to pursue rugby in university.
Importantly, as Ella has continued to carve a place for herself within the changing world of women’s sport, she’s already distinguished herself as a young leader, whether it be for her high school teammates at Ashbury or her younger siblings.
“I want to be a role model for those younger girls,” Ella underlines.
Read More of our 2025 High School Best Series as we tip our caps to top local student-athletes at: OttawaSportsPages.ca/Ottawa-High-School-Best-2025