Football Canada – REGINA (August 2, 2016) – Host Saskatchewan claimed gold with a 34-22 win against Quebec on Sunday July 31 at the inaugural Women’s National Championship held at Regina’s Mosaic Stadium. In Sunday’s other contest, Alberta captured bronze following a 30-12 victory over New Brunswick.

Stats and rosters available here: http://footballcanada.com/national-championships/2016-womens-national-championship/ 

Quebec opened the four-game senior women’s tackle football tournament on Thursday June 30 with a 54-31 win over Alberta while Saskatchewan defeated New Brunswick 58-0 to close out day one. With opening day victories by rivals Quebec and Saskatchewan, Sunday’s gold medal game marked the fourth time this year that the two provinces competed for gold as it was a rematch of the 2016 Football Canada Cup final as well as both the men’s and women’s Senior Flag Football Invitational finals.

Just as in 2012, the senior women’s event served as the start of the identification process for Canada’s Women’s National Team, scheduled to compete at the 2017 International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Women’s World Championship (WWC). 

Leading up to the gold and bronze medal games, on Saturday players took part in a series of drills as part of the identification process for the Women’s National Team.

“Saturday’s session was a great opportunity for the Women’s National Team coaching staff to continue identifying and get a chance to speak to players about competing for Canada in 2017,” said returning national team head coach, Jeff Yausie, who serves the same role with the Saskatoon Valkyries.

The national event builds off the 2012 Women’s Challenge Cup held in Montreal. The Challenge Cup hosted provincial teams from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec and Atlantic Canada in a weekend celebration of women’s football which included integrated practices, mini-games as well as development opportunities for mentor coaches. 

“It’s exciting to see women’s tackle football continue to grow and develop. The talent and quality of play was impressive and the national championship was a great way to not only celebrate this growth but also continue to foster it,” said Yausie. 

 Scoring summary – Gold medal game

QTR	TIME	TEAM	SCORE	PLAYER   (NAME & #)	TYPE OF PLAY	HOME	VISITOR
1	8:48	SK	6	33 Samantha Matheson	Rushing touchdown	0	6
1	8:48	SK	1	5 Carly Dyck	Extra point	0	7
1	8:47	SK	1	5 Carly Dyck	ROUGE	0	8
1	0:55	SK	6	33 Samantha Matheson	Rushing touchdown	0	14
1	0:55	SK	1	5 Carly Dyck	Extra point	0	15
2	10:39	SK	6	5 Carly Dyck	Receiving touchdown	0	21
2	10:39	SK	1	5 Carly Dyck	Extra point	0	22
2	3:20	SK	2		SAFETY	0	24
2	0:25	QC	2		SAFETY	2	24
3	9:24	QC	6	86 Annabelle Chevrier	Receiving touchdown	8	24
3	5:25	QC	6	9 Rose-Amelie Brunet	Receiving touchdown	14	24
3	2:36	QC	1	13 Maude Lacasse	ROUGE	15	24
4	9:59	SK	6	1 Carmen Agar	Rushing touchdown	15	30
4	9:59	SK	1	5 Carly Dyck	Extra point	15	31
4	7:45	SK	3	5 Carly Dyck	Field goal	15	34
4	4:54	QC	6	31 Virginie Roussel	Receiving touchdown	21	34
4	4:54	QC	1	13 Maude Lacasse	Extra point	22	34

Scoring summary – Bronze medal game

QTR	TIME	TEAM	SCORE	PLAYER   (NAME & #)	TYPE OF PLAY	HOME	VISITOR
1	7:27	NB	6	13 Olivia DeMerchant	Rushing touchdown	6	0
1	6:56	AB	6	21 Erin Walton	Receiving touchdown	6	6
1	6:56	AB	1	10 Kassidy Atwater	Extra point	6	7
2	8:54	AB	6	10 Kassidy Atwater	Rushing touchdown	6	13
2	8:54	AB	1	10 Kassidy Atwater	Extra point	6	14
2	1:34	AB	6	10 Kassidy Atwater	Rushing touchdown	6	20
2	1:34	AB	1	10 Kassidy Atwater	Extra point	6	21
2	0:33	AB	6	80 Aria McGowan	Rushing touchdown	6	27
4	6:56	AB	3	10 Kassidy Atwater	Field goal	6	30
4	0:19	NB	6	13 Olivia DeMerchant	Rushing touchdown	12	30

– 30 – 

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. 

Patrick DeLottinville

Coordinator, Communications

Football Canada

613-564-0003 x 226

communications@footballcanada.com