World Footy News

Next weekend Canada's national Women's team hosts their American counterparts. Our thanks to Jake Anson for sending us the following report reviewing the national team's evolution over the past few years.

Canada national women's team first played in 2007, in two matches against the USA Freedom at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver, BC. At that time, adult women's footy in Canada was in its infancy and each of the Canadians were participating in their first football matches. This initial Team Canada - dubbed 'the Eagles' - contained players only from Calgary and Vancouver, of whom a third were under 16 years of age. Canada lost both matches by substantial margins, but gained valuable experience in playing the Americans.

The three years since have seen substantial growth in the number of women playing footy across Canada, and their skill base. In 2009, AFL Canada decided to re-brand the national women's team as 'the Northern Lights', to bring a recognizably Canadian identity to the team. Women's footy is now played across the four most-populous Canadian provinces, with clubs established in Canada's five largest cities - Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. A yearly Canadian National Championship has been established for women, and youth girls footy development programs have commenced in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario.

The 2010 Northern Lights team contains 24 athletes from across every part of Canada and who have taken up footy during the past three years. They come from diverse athletic backgrounds and range in age from 16 to 34. The squad held a training camp in Calgary during May - in stereotypically Canadian snowy conditions - to prepare tor the 49th Parallel Cup. They aim to play a fast and physically tough brand of footy and challenge the Americans for the title as the best team outside Australia.

The team (listed below with their regular club listed) is coached by Jake Anson of Calgary and Tristan Waldock of Edmonton.

Lori Benoit, Calgary Kookaburras - Erin LeBlanc, Calgary Kookaburras -Lori Bossert, Calgary Kookaburras
Aimee Legault, Montreal Angels - Neda Dalili, Edmonton Emus - Margo Legault, Montreal Angels
Molly Gamble, Toronto Central Blues - Natasha Murphey, WestCoast Wildcats - Marlena Ginocchio, WestCoast Wildcats
Katelyn Nanka, WestCoast Wildcats - Leslie Gurba, Calgary Kookaburras - Amanda O’Rae, Calgary Kookaburras
Vicki Hewitt, Calgary Kookaburras - Hillary Perry, Edmonton Emus - Melanie Howard, Calgary Kookaburras
Lyndsay Smith, Calgary Kookaburras - Kaelyn James, WestCoast Wildcats - Lisa Tazzman, Toronto Central Blues
Rebecca Jones, Calgary Kookaburras - Paige Wilson, WestCoast Wildcats - Sherelle Kelly-Witt, Toronto Central Blues
Kathryn Zakus, Calgary Kookaburras - Caitlin Kidd, Calgary Kookaburras - Lesley Zmurchuk, Calgary Kookaburras
Ciara Lanigan, Calgary Kookaburras