Florida – The Canadian Women’s National Softball Team has arrived in Florida to continue their preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games. The team is looking forward to competing together for the first time since defeating Brazil at the 2019 WBSC Americas Qualifier in Surrey, B.C. to qualify for Tokyo 2020, which will now take place in 2021. In the year and a half that has passed since then, the team has been pushing themselves further by focusing on individual and group training.
“Our team has done a very good job of staying focused on their training goals throughout the COVID-19 pandemic” stated Mark Smith, Softball Canada’s High Performance Manager and Head Coach of the Women’s National Team. “It has been a real collective group effort that they have all bought into as they continue with their preparation for the months ahead.”
With a little over four months to go before the start of Olympic Games, the team will be training out of Florida before relocating to Marion, Illinois in May to continue with their preparations. Team training and practices will be closed to the public as a safety precaution.
As previously announced by the University of Florida Gators, Team Canada will play a 10-inning exhibition game against the Gators on April 10th. The Canadian team has also confirmed additional games against the Florida SouthWestern State College Buccaneers on March 27th and April 3rd. A full game schedule is currently being developed and more details will be provided at a later date.
Schedule
| DATE | GAME | TIME |
| March 27 | Canada vs. Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers | 11:00am ET |
| April 3 | Canada vs. Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers | 11:00am ET |
| April 10 | Canada vs. Florida Gators (10 innings) | 1:30pm ET |
There are currently eighteen (18) athletes from the Women’s National Team Athlete Pool who are participating in the Florida camp. The final Olympic roster of fifteen (15) athletes is expected to be announced in June.
Florida Training Camp Roster
| FIRST NAME | LAST NAME | HOMETOWN |
| Jenna | Caira | Toronto, Ont. |
| Emma | Entzminger | Victoria, B.C. |
| Larissa | Franklin | Maple Ridge, B.C. |
| Jennifer | Gilbert | Saskatoon, Sask. |
| Sara | Groenewegen | Surrey, B.C. |
| Kelsey | Harshman | Delta, B.C. |
| Victoria | Hayward | Toronto, Ont. |
| Karissa | Hovinga | Edmonton, Alta. |
| Danielle | Lawrie | Langley, B.C. |
| Janet | Leung | Mississauga, Ont. |
| Joey | Lye | Toronto, Ont. |
| Callum | Pilgrim | Abbotsford, B.C. |
| Erika | Polidori | Brantford, Ont. |
| Morgan | Rackel | Calgary, Alta. |
| Kaleigh | Rafter | Guelph, Ont. |
| Lauren | Regula | Trail, B.C. |
| Jennifer | Salling | Port Coquitlam, B.C. |
| Natalie | Wideman | Mississauga, Ont. |
Coaching Staff
| POSITION | NAME | HOMETOWN |
| Head Coach | Mark Smith | Falmouth, N.S. |
| Assistant Coach | Melissa Basilio | Oshawa, Ont. |
| Assistant Coach | Chris Jones | Oshawa, Ont. |
| Athletic Therapist | Natalie Ghobrial | North York, Ont. |
| Mental Performance | Wade Gilbert | Fresno, Calif. |
| Performance Analyst | Carolyn Taylor | Winnipeg, Man. |
| Strength and Conditioning | Scott Willgress | Halifax, N.S. |
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For more information, please contact:
Gilles LeBlanc
Manager – Marketing & Communications
Softball Canada
p: (613) 523-3386 ext. 3105 | m: (613) 795-1996
w: www.softball.ca | e: gleblanc@softball.ca