Canadian Interuniversity Sport announced the student-athletes and support staff of the Women’s Team who will represent Canada at the fourth FISU World University Rugby Sevens Championship from July 21st to 24th, 2010 in Porto, Portugal.
Suzanne Chaulk, head coach of the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, is returning for her fourth Championship, having steered Team Canada to gold medal performances in Beijing, China in 2004, and Rome, Italy in 2006 and a silver finish in Córdoba, Spain in 2008.
Chaulk is joined by several of her University of Ottawa coaching staff, including Jean-Philippe Lavoie, an assistant coach with the Gee Gees program, who will joining the program for the first time in the combined role of Team Leader/Assistant Coach. Hussan Saeed, also in his first appearance with the program, will be serving as the team’s Strength and Conditioning Coach. Rounding out the group is Carrie Smith, Team Physiotherapist and a veteran with the program, having worked with Chaulk at all three previous World Championships.
The squad was chosen at a selection camp held in Ottawa the third week of November which featured thirty-five of the top athletes from universities all over the country. Chaulk, in highlighting the exceptional quality of athletes competing for a spot on this year’s team, believes that this is a reflection of the talented athletes and coaches competing within Canada’s universities. “There is absolutely no comparison to that first camp in 2004. And that’s high praise indeed when you consider that the majority of the players who participated in 2004 were National Team athletes.”
The Canadians are heading to Las Vegas this week to participate in the prestigious U.S. Invitational Women’s International Sevens Tournament, which is held in conjunction with the IRB International Men’s event. Although it’ll be first taste of international-level competition for many members of the team, against far more seasoned competition, this is a very important tune-up in our preparations, Chaulk says. “This will be our only opportunity to actually play games, and in a tournament format that is similar to what we’ll face in Portugal.”
Despite facing more senior competition, Chaulk believes that this team is more than capable of competing in Las Vegas; pointing out that in 2008, Team Canada finished a very respectable fourth with an inexperienced roster. “This time around we have a number of athletes with experience at the international level, including four returning players from the team that competed in Spain. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see us finish in the medals.”
“More importantly, this preparation takes on even greater significance when viewed in the light of an expanded FISU Tournament and the level of competition that we will encounter there,” explains Chaulk. Until now, the women’s side of the FISU tournament has been limited to 6 teams, but this year will see an unprecedented 15 teams participating, with some of the world’s strongest rugby countries represented for the first time. “I suspect that this is a reaction to the recent addition of 7-a-side rugby to the Olympics in 2016.” says Chaulk. “There’s no doubt that the addition of Australia and South Africa will raise the competitive level of the tournament significantly, but this sudden increase in participating teams also confirms that university rugby is viewed by many rugby powers as a key development stream for their national team programs.”
TEAM CANADA ROSTER
Shannon Court, U of Lethbridge (Calgary, Alta.)
Jessica Dovanne, U of Saint Mary’s (Victoria, B.C.)
Annika Eriksson, U of Alberta (Edmonton, Alta.)
Lisa Gauthier, U of St. Francis Xavier (Ottawa, Ont.)
Michelle Joslin, U of Guelph (Waterloo, Ont.)
Ghislaine Landry, U of St. Francis Xavier (Toronto, Ont.)
Janine Martin, U of Alberta (Edmonton, Alta.)
Marlene Nedved, U of Alberta (Edmonton, Alta.)
Karen Paquin, U of Laval (Quebec City, Que.)
Jocelyn Poirier, Queen’s U (Ottawa, Ont.)
Laura Russell, U of Western Ontario (Bolton, Ont.)
Charlotte Vallières-Villeneuve, U of Laval (Quebec City, Que.)
Natasha Watcham-Roy, U of Ottawa (Gatineau, Que.)
Karlye Wong, Queen’s U (Ottawa, Ont.)
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