Football Canada – Ottawa (January 14, 2017) – The dream of representing their nation at the highest level has come true for 45 of the top women’s tackle football players in Canada. Eleven additional players were named to a reserve roster. Canada heads into the 2017 IFAF Women’s World Championship with a pair of silver medals earned at the inaugural event in 2010 as well as the 2013 installment in Finland.

The national team retains a core group of players as 13 of the 45 women on the roster competed in 2013 including Alex Black, Trina Graves and Christine O’Donnell who are set to represent Canada for a third straight Women’s World Championship.

The selection process began this past summer as aspiring national team players were identified at the Women’s National Championship in Regina and invited to attend regional selection camps held this past December in Montreal and Moose Jaw.

“I’d like to congratulate all those that took part in the selection process. It was extremely difficult to narrow down our roster to 45,” said head coach Jeff Yausie. “Women’s football continues to grow in Canada and it’s a testament to the hard work that women across the country have been putting in. The world championships represent the pinnacle of women’s tackle football and for 45, their dream is about to become a reality and for that they should be extremely proud.”

Canada is led by an experienced coaching staff that returns head coach Jeff Yausie alongside respective defensive and special teams coordinators Pierre Migner and Olivier Eddie. The duo is joined by incoming offensive coordinator, Ryan Clutterbuck. The coaching staff also returns offensive line coach Chris Hengen-Braun while former Team Canada quarterback Saadia Ashraf is set to participate in her third women’s worlds as a first-time national team coach. See: Full coaching staff 

“There’s a tremendous amount of passion and experience on this coaching staff which will help as we work towards building off a silver medal in Finland. Based on what we saw at the first-ever National Championship this past summer, our team will be younger, faster and stronger.”

The host nation and location for the 2017 Women’s World Championship has yet to be named.

Now held every four years, the inaugural 2010 event took place in Stockholm, Sweden while Vantaa, Finland played host to the second installment in 2013.

Football Canada’s 2017 Women’s National Team

Name / Nom	Pos.	Team / Équipe
KOWALSKI, Aimee *	QB/QA	Regina Riot
LACASSE, Maude	QB/QA	Blitz de Montréal
BRICK, Cassey	RB/DO	Chicago Force
FRIESEN, Julene	RB/DO	Saskatoon Valkyries
MATHESON, Samantha	RB/DO	Saskatoon Valkyries
THIVIERGE, Laurence	RB/DO	Blitz de Montréal
AGAR, Carmen	FB/CA	Regina Riot
DeMERCHANT, Olivia	FB/CA	Capital Area Lady Gladiators
GOMES, Lisa	FB/CA	Calgary Rage
BRODEUR, Sonia	OL/LO	Blitz de Montréal
FUNK, Alyssa	OL/LO	Saskatoon Valkyries
GRAVES, Trina **	OL/LO	Saint John Storm
HENDERSON, Tanya	OL/LO	Edmonton Storm
LAMMERDING, Jaime *	OL/LO	Saskatoon Valkyries
VIKLUND, Ashley	OL/LO	Regina Riot
ROBERGE, Virginie *	OL/LO	Blitz de Montréal
BLACK, Alex **	REC	Capital Area Lady Gladiators
CHEVRIER, Annabelle	REC	Blitz de Montréal
DORE, Claire *	REC	Regina Riot
DYCK, Carly	REC	Saskatoon Valkyries
KOWALSKI, Alex	REC	Regina Riot
KISELYK, Marci *	REC	Saskatoon Valkyries
PONTBRIAND, Laurence *	REC	Blitz de Montréal
WILSON, Alicia	REC	Calgary Rage
HUNGLE, Katie	DE/AD	Regina Riot
ILELABOYE, Muba	DE/AD	Winnipeg Wolfpack
IWAASA, Wendy	DE/AD	Lethbridge Steel
DUCHESNEAU, Joanie	DT/PD	Blitz de Montréal
TWIN, Sanderina	DT/PD	Edmonton Storm
O’DONNELL, Christine **	DT/PD	Winnipeg Wolfpack
WARD, Breanne	DT/PD	Winnipeg Wolfpack
BÉLANGER, Émilie *	LB/SEC	Blitz de Montréal
BUCKLAND, Allysa	LB/SEC	Winnipeg Wolfpack
CHATTERTON, Kristen *	LB/SEC	Capital Area Lady Gladiators
FAST, Jill	LB/SEC	Winnipeg Wolfpack
KOUROPOULOU, Artemis	LB/SEC	Regina Riot
ROUSSEL, Virginie	LB/SEC	Blitz de Montréal
DE JONG, Shaylyn	DB/DD	Saskatoon Valkyries
GIROUARD, Kaitlynn	DB/DD	St. John Storm
GOLDSNEY, Emma	DB/DD	Edmonton Storm
HALLE, Emilie	DB/DD	Detroit Dark Angels
HENINGER, Rebeckah “Becky”	DB/DD	Lethbridge Steel / Calgary Rage
JANSON, Amélie	DB/DD	Blitz de Montréal
THOMSON, Beth *	DB/DD	Saskatoon Valkyries
ZUCK, Adrienne *	DB/DD	Regina Riot

*=signifies returning player from Canada’s 2013 Women’s National Team

**=signifies returning player from Canada’s 2013 and 2010 Women’s National Teams

Reserve Roster

Name / Nom	Pos.	Team / Équipe
McGOWAN, Aria	QB/QA	Edmonton Storm
WALTON, Erin **	FB/CA	Calgary Rage
SCHNELL, Celeste	OL/LO	Regina Riot
BRUNET, Rose-Amélie	REC	Blitz de Montréal
O’DRISCOLL, Brigitte	DE/AD	Blitz de Montréal
MATWYCZUK, Alexa *	DT/PD	Manitoba Fearless
WILSON, Kendra *	OL/LO	Saskatoon Valkyries
STARKEY, Mallory *	LB/SEC	Regina Riot
MYALL, Amanda	DB/DD	Manitoba Fearless
RUEVE, Rienna	DB/DD	Saskatoon Valkyries
RULLER, Amanda	DB/DD

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About Football Canada

Established in 1884, Football Canada is the national governing body of amateur football in Canada and a proud member of the International Federation of American Football (IFAF). Working closely with the provincial football associations, we develop programs and resources for players, coaches, officials in the three disciplines of Tackle, Flag and Touch Football. Football Canada’s vision statement is “from playground to stadium” where players can participate in the game of football throughout a lifetime recreationally, competitively and internationally. 

Contact Information:

Patrick DeLottinville

Coordinator, Communications

Football Canada

613-564-0003 x 226

communications@footballcanada.com