Football Canada Top 24 all-stars announced

Ottawa, ON (September 4, 2019) – On Wednesday Football Canada announced its’ Top 24 male and female senior flag players. The 48 players were selected from the pool of players who competed at the 2019 CFFL National Championship this past July in Saskatoon. The players will form four all-star teams: two male and two female.

The teams will travel to the International Bowl this January in Texas to represent Canada in an International Flag Championship at AT&T stadium. This is the first time in International Bowl history that a flag championship is taking place as a part of the event.

The selection of these All-Star teams was led by the Women’s and Men’s Flag National Team head coaches, Francios Bougie and Chad Palmer.

“The International Bowl will be a great step in our process that we’ve never had before. We’ve needed more international play to get these players more experience at the level we see at worlds,” commented Chad Palmer, Men’s Flag National Team head coach. “The CFFL process combined with International Bowl are a tremendous step forward in bringing together the best flag players from across Canada.”

The selection of the Top 24 is a step in the process towards finalizing the Team Canada roster that will compete at the 2020 World Flag Championship in Denmark.

“Narrowing down this group of 24 to 15 is going to be incredibly hard as the players that have been identified are great. The final 15 will be ready to go and without a doubt the best 15 Canada has to offer,” adds Palmer.

Highlighting the rosters, on the male side, are Trysten Dyce (Winnipeg, MB) from the CFFL National Champions, Manitoba’s Most Wanted, and Taylor Rein (Saskatoon, SK). Rein was a member of the 2016 National Team that competed at the World Flag Championships in Miami, Florida. Both Dyce and Rein were named tournament MVPs at CFFL Nationals.

Also on the rosters are a pair of defensive backs who represented Canada at the 2018 World Flag Championship in Panama; Julian Barnaras (Winnipeg, MB) and Mitch Friesen (Saskatoon,SK).

Defensive back Mitch Duggan (Ottawa, ON) and receiver, Ian Stuart (Ottawa, ON) did not compete at Nationals, however they were both a part of the Pirahana’s, the 2019 CFFL Central Regionals champions.

On the female side are CFFL Nationals tournament MVPs, are Blake Geier (Saskatoon, SK) and Olivia Woo (Saskatoon, SK).  Both were a part of Team Canada, the 2019 CFFL Nationals Champions.

Also highlighting the roster is five time Team Canada player Émilie Pfeiffer-Badoux (Montreal, QC). “Émilie is recognized as one of the best flag players in the world and has been a part of Team Canada since 2008,” commented François Bougie, Women’s Flag National Team head coach.

Lauriane Beauchamp (L’Assomption, QC) and Marilou Béland (Montreal, QC) also both represented Canada at the 2018 World Flag Championships in Panama. Beauchamp was also a member of Team Canada at the 2016 World Flag Championships in Florida, USA.

The Top 24 also includes two players who competed at the U20 Flag National Championship in PEI this past August, Emma Garagan (Halifax, NS) and Amélia Desrochers (Boisbriand, QC).

FOOTBALL CANADA SR MENS TOP 24 ROSTER 

FOOTBALL CANADA SR WOMENS TOP 24 ROSTER

This post is also available in: French