Softball Canada – Ottawa, Ont. – The Canadian Women’s National Softball Team is kicking off its 2018 season with a two-week Japan Tour that will include fourteen 14 games against several local Japanese teams between June 14-26. The team just completed a 12-day training camp held at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, Calif. and will head overseas with a roster of twenty-one (21) athletes.

Following the Japan Tour, Team Canada will travel back to California to rest and train before competing in the USA Softball International Cup (previously known as the US World Cup of Softball) from July 9-15 in Irvine, Calif. immediately followed by the Canada Cup from July 17-22 in Surrey, B.C. After the Canada Cup, the team will return overseas to train in Japan ahead of the WBSC Women’s Softball World Championship that will be played August 2-12 in Chiba, Japan.

Canada’s 17-player roster for the WBSC Women’s Softball World Championship will be announced after the team returns from the Japan Tour.

The WBSC World Championship will determine the first team(s) to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo as the Gold medalist will earn a direct berth to the Olympic Games. In the event host Japan wins Gold, the Silver medalist will also earn a spot at the 2020 Olympic Games. Regional qualifiers will determine the remaining four entries for the six-team Olympic Games field with dates and locations to be determined later. The Americas region will have two entries, while Europe/Africa and Asia/Oceania will each have one.
 

WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM SCHEDULE

 

The twenty-one (21) athletes who are travelling to compete in the Japan Tour are:

ATHLETES

 

FIRST NAME	LAST NAME	HOMETOWN
Kara	Bilodeau	Cumming, Ga.
Kristen	Brown	Levittown, N.Y.
Jenna	Caira	Toronto, Ont.
Emma	Entzminger	Victoria, B.C.
Larissa	Franklin	Maple Ridge, B.C.
Kenzie	Friesen	Saskatoon, Sask.
Jennifer	Gilbert	Saskatoon, Sask.
Sara	Groenewegen	Surrey, B.C.
Victoria	Hayward	Toronto, Ont.
Karissa	Hovinga	Edmonton, Alta.
Kelsey	Jenkins	Delta, B.C.
Danielle	Lawrie	Langley, B.C.
Janet	Leung	Mississauga, Ont.
Joey	Lye	Toronto, Ont.
Sara	Plourde	Baker Lake, N.B.
Erika	Polidori	Brantford, Ont.
Kaleigh	Rafter	Guelph, Ont.
Jenn	Salling	Port Coquitlam, B.C.
Nicole	Schroeder	Yorba Linda, Calif.
Holly	Speers	Surrey, B.C.
Natalie	Wideman	Mississauga, Ont.

COACHING STAFF

 

POSITION	NAME	HOMETOWN
Head Coach	Mark Smith	Falmouth, N.S.
Assistant Coach	Melissa Basilio	Pickering, Ont.
Assistant Coach	Russell Cooper	Tahiti Bay, NZL
Assistant Coach	Dave Paetkau	Abbotsford, B.C.
Performance Analyst	Hubie Basilio	Oshawa, Ont.
Performance Analyst	Glenn Boles	St. Catharines, Ont.
Strength & Conditioning	Kiri Langford	Collingwood, Ont.
Mental Performance	Lauren Tashman	Pennington, N.J.
Athletic Therapist	Natalie Ghobrial	North York, Ont.
Team Leader	Melissa Finley	London, Ont.

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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