![]() Alev Kelter during Match between: Ireland women's national rugby sevens team ‒ United States women's national rugby sevens team 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birth name | Leyla Alev Kelter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | March 21, 1991 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Tampa, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 165 lb (75 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Leyla Alev Kelter (born March 21, 1991) is an American rugby sevens and rugby union player.
She won a silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games as a member of the United States women's national rugby sevens team. [1] [2] She also made the squad to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil.
Kelter was named in the Eagles squad to the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland. [3]
In January 2022 the English rugby side Saracens Women announced that she had signed for the rest of the 2021–22 Premier15s season. [4] She was named in the Eagles squad for the 2022 Pacific Four Series in New Zealand. [5] [6] She was selected in the Eagles squad for the 2021 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. [7] [8] [9]
Kelter has also played for the Northern Loonies in Premier Rugby Sevens, and was part of the 2021 Inaugural Championship team and the 2023 Women's Championship. [10] She won the Finals MVP in 2023. [11]
Kelter played for the United States women's national under-20 soccer team and the United States women's national under-18 ice hockey team and later played both sports at the University of Wisconsin from 2009 to 2013. [12]
Born to Mark Perusse and Leyla Kelter, she has two brothers, Erol and Aydin and a twin sister, Derya Kelter, who also played soccer and ice hockey. Before she was nine, her family had moved four times because her father was a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force. [13] Kelter attended Chugiak High School in Chugiak, Alaska. She graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from University of Wisconsin in 2015. [14] [15] Kelter is a part of the LGBTQ community and has spoken out against banning transgender women from playing women's rugby. [16]
![]() Alev Kelter during Match between: Ireland women's national rugby sevens team ‒ United States women's national rugby sevens team 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birth name | Leyla Alev Kelter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | March 21, 1991 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Tampa, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 165 lb (75 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Leyla Alev Kelter (born March 21, 1991) is an American rugby sevens and rugby union player.
She won a silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games as a member of the United States women's national rugby sevens team. [1] [2] She also made the squad to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil.
Kelter was named in the Eagles squad to the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland. [3]
In January 2022 the English rugby side Saracens Women announced that she had signed for the rest of the 2021–22 Premier15s season. [4] She was named in the Eagles squad for the 2022 Pacific Four Series in New Zealand. [5] [6] She was selected in the Eagles squad for the 2021 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. [7] [8] [9]
Kelter has also played for the Northern Loonies in Premier Rugby Sevens, and was part of the 2021 Inaugural Championship team and the 2023 Women's Championship. [10] She won the Finals MVP in 2023. [11]
Kelter played for the United States women's national under-20 soccer team and the United States women's national under-18 ice hockey team and later played both sports at the University of Wisconsin from 2009 to 2013. [12]
Born to Mark Perusse and Leyla Kelter, she has two brothers, Erol and Aydin and a twin sister, Derya Kelter, who also played soccer and ice hockey. Before she was nine, her family had moved four times because her father was a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force. [13] Kelter attended Chugiak High School in Chugiak, Alaska. She graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from University of Wisconsin in 2015. [14] [15] Kelter is a part of the LGBTQ community and has spoken out against banning transgender women from playing women's rugby. [16]