Football Canada adds five to Women’s National Team coaching staff

Coaches to lead Canada at 2017 Women’s World Championship

Football Canada has named Saadia Ashraf, Chris Hengen-Braun, Cody Halseth, Charles Migner and John Svenson to the Women’s National Team coaching staff which will guide Canada into the 2017 IFAF Women’s World Championship.

Chris Hengen-Braun returns to the Women’s National Team as offensive line coach while two-time national team quarterback Saadia Ashraf continues her involvement with the program, transitioning from national team player to coach.

“The Women’s World Championship continues to serve as a catalyst for the growth of women’s tackle football across our country and we’re excited for the next installment in 2017,” said head coach Jeff Yausie, who returns from the 2013 coaching staff alongside respective defensive and special teams coordinators Pierre Migner and Olivier Eddie. “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.”

Yausie and the rest of the coaching staff are now preparing to select a roster of 45 players to represent Canada at the 2017 IFAF Women’s World Championship. Players were identified from this past summer’s Women’s National Championship in Regina and invited to attend regional selection camps in Montreal and Moose Jaw.

“We had a great show of talent earlier this month at our camp in Montreal. Players from across the country have been working hard to represent their country on the world stage and we look forward to hosting the Western Canada camp on Saturday, December 17 in Moose Jaw.”

Canada will look to build upon a pair of silver medals earned at the 2013 Women’s World Championship in Vantaa, Finland and the inaugural 2010 event in Sweden.

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

Coaching Staff – 2017 Women’s National Team

Coaching staff biographies

Saadia Ashraf – quarterbacks

Saadia is a pionner of women’s tackle football, having led Canada to silver medals at the inaugural Women’s World Championship in 2010 as well as in 2013. She has been involved in football for over 20 years including 13 years as a player with the Montreal Blitz, the only Canadian entry playing in the U.S.-based Independent Women’s Football League.

Ashraf served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Blitz in 2015. She has also served as head coach of the John Abbot College flag football team since 1996 and as president of the Blitz since 2004.

Chris Hengen-Braun – offensive line

A former offensive lineman with the Saskatoon Hilltops from 2006-2010, Hengen-Braun has coached the with the Saskatoon Valkryies of the Western Women’s Canadian Football League (WWCFL) since 2011, serving multiple roles including offensive line coach, special teams coordinator and co-offensive coordinator.

An alumnus of Aden Bowman (High School) in Saskatoon, he’s a longtime Aden Bowman Bears coach that began with the junior program from 2007-2008 before moving on to the school’s senior team in 2009. Canada’s returning offensive line coach from 2013 recently led Saskatchewan to gold at the women’s national championship as head coach.

Cody Halseth – linebackers

Halseth, a defensive back with the Saskatoon Hilltops (2004-2008) and University of Saskatchewan Huskies (2009-2011), first began coaching the positon he played from 2006-2008 at Centennial Collegiate before spending the 2011 season in the same role at Marion Graham.

Halseth joined the Huskies coaching staff in 2011 and 2012 as a graduate assistant before beginning as defensive backs coach in 2013. Cody began coaching women’s football in 2011 when he joined the Saskatoon Valkryies as defensive backs coach before taking over as the team’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2013.

Charles Migner – defensive backs

Charles Migner has been involved in coaching women’s football since 2010 when he joined the Montreal Blitz as the team’s linebackers coach. In 2013, his role expanded to include the team’s defensive coordinator duties in addition to serving as a defensive backs coach. The Montreal Carabins linebacker also helped Quebec to a silver medal at the 2016 Women’s National Championship as defensive coordinator.

John Svenson – defensive line

Svenson first joined the Melville Comprehensive High School’s coaching staff in 1994 and has served as the 9-man program’s head coach since 2006. Under his guidance, the program has qualified for the provincial playoffs 8 times and reached the semi-finals three of the past four years. John has been working with Saskatchewan’s 9-man all-star team at the SasKota Bowl, played against North Dakota, since its inception in 2004. John has also been coaching in the senior bowl since 1993 and recently served as the south’s defensive coordinator in May 2016. Since 2007, John is also a founder and president of Melville Minor Football.

He recently served as special teams coordinator and defensive line coach on Saskatchewan’s gold medal winning entry at the 2016 Women’s National Championship in Regina.

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