The Kookaburras have kept busy during the off-season and have a couple of news clippings that will interest our supporters.
Leslie Gurba was the pride of the club when she was selected to run with the Olympic Torch when it passed through Canmore on January 20th, 2010. Gurbs entered a Coca-Cola competition and was selected from among thousands of applicants for the privilege. The weather could not have been better for Gurbs' run and she was cheered along by fellow Kookaburras Lesley "Zed" Zmurchuk and Ciara "Lanners" Lanigan. Gurbs is an accomplished sportswoman, having represented Canada at Australian football and having played and coached top-level women's rugby for a number of years. Her sporting achievements, including her participation with the Kookaburras were mentioned on the Coca-Cola Torch Relay website. Congratulations Gurbs!
Former Kookaburra Kylie "Smiles" Clancy has returned to Sydney and is lacing up her footy boots with the newest club in the Sydney Women's AFL. Smiles got her first taste of Australian football playing with our club in 2009 and becomes the third Kookaburra to play footy with a club Down Under. We wish Smiles and the Southern Power good luck in their first season competing in our sister league. For more coverage, read this article from the St. George & Sutherland Shire Leader newspaper.
Six Kookaburras joined Australian football representatives from the Calgary and Edmonton men's and women's clubs in Canmore on January 30th for the inaugural Alberta Footy Summit. The purpose of the meeting was to plan a schedule for the 2010 footy season and to workshop ways in which the Alberta clubs can better work together to improve our footy competitions, social events, junior development programs and to acquire permanent fields. The summit was declared a success by all who attended, and the 2010 season looks set to be the most-exciting and best-organized yet. Stay tuned for further info in coming days.
Lastly, the Kookaburras are now on Twitter. Click on this link to go to our Twitter page. To launch this new feature, we will be announcing the appointment of the 2010 Head Coach and making a second exciting announcement on Wednesday, February 10th!
Long time Kookaburras Head Coach Jake Anson is looking to stand down after three seasons at the helm, to better focus on off-field administration and coaching the Canadian national team. The Kookaburras are consequently in search of a new coach for 2010 and beyond. Jake has built a successful squad that has won both the Canadian and US National Championships over the past two seasons, and one that boasts a host of national team players. This is a huge opportunity for the right person to step in and keep the Kookaburras among the elite women's footy teams in North America.
The chosen candidate will be financially compensated by the club, taking into account relevant experience and commitment. If you are interested please apply by emailing calgary.kookaburras@hotmail.com and please include details of your Australian Rules Football experience to help us narrow down the candidates.
The Richmond Hill Wines Calgary Kookaburras held our annual Best & Fairest Presentation Night on October 23rd, 2009 at sponsor venue Buzzards Restaurant in downtown Calgary. As in previous years, the girls were looking resplendent in their dresses and make-up, while some of the coaches and boyfriends even scrubbed up well for the big event.
Awards were presented for a number of exceptional efforts in 2009. Beck Jones was named as Best Clubwoman for the second year running, which recognizes her ongoing contribution as a vital club organizer. Beck has elected to take on the role of AFL Canada Treasurer in 2010, joining Jake Anson to become our second representative on the national footy governing body. Vicki Hewitt received the Coach's Award, which recognized her contribution off-field in coordinating the first Alberta Footy Schools Program and also the improvement in her footy as she grew to become one of our best players during the year.
Lori Bossert took our her first Kookaburras Top Goalkicker award after several bags of goals performance in Mason, Ohio, at the 2009 US Nationals. Melanie Howard was named the Best First Year Player, after a stellar transition from soccer that saw her maintain a position in our senior team all season. Kate Ross was recognized for her fantastic ruck efforts in her first year of footy in being named our Most Improved Player. The top Kookaburras club award - our Best & Fairest - was awarded to Lesley Zmurchuk after her impressive performances in both the Canadian and US National Championships.
Also honoured on the night were our local league award winners. Club captain Kathryn Zakus took out the Kensington Kingfishers' Best & Fairest and Lori Bossert was named as Hillhurst Nighthawks Best & Fairest. The Alberta Footy Women's League premiership cup and medallions were also presented to the victorious Nighthawks team.
Master-of-ceremonies Amanda O'Rae thanked the club's generous sponsors - Richmond Hill Wines, Downunder Travel, Bottlescrew Bill's Pub, Runge Mining and Kukri Sports - for their assistance in 2009. Without their help, growing footy in Calgary would be so much more difficult. Our outgoing club Committee was also thanked, along with the coaches and support staff. A new Committee for 2010 was elected, with several new faces to lead the club:
President: Jake Anson Vice President: Vicki Hewitt Secretary: Caity Kidd Treasurer: Emilie Zaloum Club Development Manager: Melanie Howard Social Manager: Lori Benoit First-Year Representative: To Be Filled in 2010.
The evening concluded with another brilliant video of highlights from the year, put together by Beck Jones and Lori Bossert. Thank-you to everyone who made it such a memorable and entertaining night!
Thirty men’s and eight women’s teams gathered to compete in the USAFL National Championships in Mason, Ohio, over the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend on October 9-12, 2009.Following many months of recruiting and training, Calgary became the first club to field two women’s teams, the Calgary White Kookaburras and Calgary Blue Kookaburras, in an effort to defend the championship title won in Colorado Springs the previous year.
Our ladies arrived in a very wet Mason fearful that it would be a repeat of the sodden, near sub-zero temperatures of the previous tournament in Colorado Springs. Fortunately, the thermometer read a much more forgiving temperature.However, after an extremely muddy Friday night training session conducted in ankle-deep water, it was apparent that a waterlogged pitch would prove a challenge to all competitors, and especially our Alberta girls who rarely play or train in the wet.
Calgary White kicked off Saturday morning bright-and-early with a match against Milwaukee.Milwaukee put the first points on the scoreboard and didn’t let up.Calgary White fought hard and persevered in spite of the point difference, but Milwaukee’s experience overpowered Calgary White team and won 9.15-69 to 0.0-0.
Calgary Blue and Eastern Canada/Sacramento were next up.This was the closest it would come to a Battle of Canada, with individuals from both sides vying for positions on the Canadian national team.It was a tough, gritty game full of hard tackles and clashing egos.Calgary Blue emerged victorious by 7.5-47 to 0.2-2, with Holly “Witchy” Greatwich and Leslie “Gurbs” Gurba kicking two goals apiece and Rebecca “Becks” Jones, Lesley “Zed” Zmurchuk and Lori “Boss” Bossert each contributing a goal.
During our mid-day break, our ladies watch the Calgary Kangaroos men defeat Minnesota 6.6-42 to 3.1-19, and thump Kansas City 9.5-59 to 1.6-12.The Roos displayed much skill and finesse in moving the ball down the field and provided inspiration for our afternoon games.
Calgary White met Atlanta in their next game.As in their first, they came out strong but were slowly picked apart by their more experienced rivals who had contested every women's Grand Final in USAFL history.Calgary White managed to kick one point, showing that the Atlanta defense could be breached, but they weren't able to prevent Atlantafrom running away with the game 9.9-63 to 0.1-1.
Calgary Blue finished Saturday by facing New York.Both teams came out with their guns blazing, but with Kate “Spider” Ross in the ruck and Zed running up the wing, Calgary Blue was unstoppable.Becks controlled the midfield and a lot of opportunities fell to Witchy and Boss up forward.Calgary Blue defeated New York 7.2-44 to 0.2-2 with two goals to Boss and one apiece to Melanie “Hulga” Howard, Zed, Becks, Shelby “Buddy” McLean and Spider.
Calgary White faced Denver in the first Sunday fixture and, having had their hopes of making it to the final dashed the day prior, they had nothing to lose and came out flying.Jane “Tarz” Wardle scored the first goal for the White and it looked as though they may upset the more experienced Denver team.Unfortunately, it was not to be.It seemed that Tarz's goal woke Denver up and they responded with more vigorous attack on the ball.Calgary White didn't give up, and although Denver won 6.7-43 to 1.0-6, the margin was not indicative of Calgary White's effort.Calgary White walked off the pitch to a huge cheer of support, ending their national championship with their best performance.
Calgary Blue met Arizona in their last round robin match, which doubled as a semi-final as the winners would advance to the grand final.There were some tough tackles and skillful play from both sides, but Calgary Blue was true to form and racked up a commanding score with a whopping four goals from Boss, two from Witchy, and one each from Zed, Buddy, Hulga, Vicki “Hewy” Hewitt and Kathryn “Gangles” Zakus.The final score was 11.10-76 to 0.4-4 and with no goals yet scored against Calgary Blue during three round robin matches, they confidently advanced to the Grand Final against Milwaukee.
The weather and field conditions for the women’s Grand Final were far superior to the Colorado Springs tournament a year before. With the sun was shining and a gentle breeze, the pitch was better than it had been all weekend and it was shaping up to be a great game.Calgary Blue lined up with a healthy dose of pre-game jitters.The whistle blew and both teams came out strong.Erin “Sav” LeBlanc put the first goal on the scoreboard for Calgary and they all hoped the game would play out to a familiar script, wither several others to follow.It did, but unfortunately for the wrong side.Shortly after the opening goal, Calgary Blue conceded two 50-metre penalties for silly errors, which allowd Milwaukee to kick two goals and shifted the momentum dramatically in their favour. From that point on tt seemed as though Calgary Blue were a step behind their opponents and played catch-up for the duration of the game.Despite putting a few more points on the board, Milwaukee defeated Calgary 51-11.A dejected Calgary team walked off the pitch in tears, devastated by the result.
Earlier that morning, the Calgary Kangaroos had defeated Chicago to advance to the Division Two men's Grand Final against the Milwaukee men. Our girls made their way over to the beer tent to commiserate and cheer on the men against Milwaukee.It was a fairly evenly matched game, but Calgary looked very strong.Brilliant marking and great team play made for a very exciting game. The Calgary men battled constantly, never letting up, and with skill and passion managed to run out winners with a final score of 32-20.At least one Calgary team would be taking home a championship cup!
With the competition finished and the day still young, the teams made their way to the tournament after party for some good times. As disappointing as the result was for our girls, we are never outdone at a party. Ultimately, Ohio put on a great tournament even if the result wasn't what we had hoped. As our girls left the hotel the following day, most were looking ahead
to another great season of footy, and to redemption.
Our end-of-season trip to US Nationals in Mason, Ohio, gets underway next week. We are very lucky in 2009 to achieve another of our club development goals in sending two squads internationally to the tournament, enabling us to expose more girls to the fun of travelling with our club and helping to improve their footy at the same time. It is our understanding that we will be the first women's footy club to fly two squads to a tournament anywhere in the world!
Mason, Ohio, will be the third US Nationals tournament that we have participated in. At Louisville in 2007, we partnered with Baltimore-Washington to field a team, and lost games against Arizona/Denver, Milwaukee and Atlanta, before beating our partners in a final match to record Calgary's first footy win. Last year we visited Colorado Springs and won the tournament after defeating Milwaukee, Arizona, Denver and Atlanta in the final. It was a Cinderella story for our club and an experience that was celebrated long afterward.
We want to build a bigger club that gives all girls the best chance to enjoy their footy and improve their skills. Our 'one club, two teams' structure for tournaments is a key to achieving our goal. This year, our coaches have selected two strong teams with enough skill to give US Nationals a red-hot go. Testament to this is the fact that both squads boast Northern Lights and All-Alberta Team representatives. The teams are:
Calgary White L. Benoit (vc), K. Han, L. Howard, C. Lanigan (c), A. Layther, L. Mantei, K. Nanka, S. Ouellette, D. Pereira, A. Scanlon, L. Smith, R. Stoddart, J. Wardle, E. Zaloum. Coach: D. Bauer. Team Manager: D. Mantei. Runners: M. Kidd & J. Anson. Schedule: Saturday - Milwaukee @ 9am, Atlanta @ 3pm. Sunday - Denver @ 9am, Eastern Canada/Sacramento @ 1pm (TBC).
Calgary Blue
L. Bossert, S. Eddie, H. Greatwich (vc), L. Gurba, V. Hewitt, M. Howard, R. Jones, R. Kelly, C. Kidd, E. LeBlanc, S. McLean, R. Mrdeza, K. Ross, K. Zakus (c), L. Zmurchuk. Coach: J. Anson. Team Manager: A. Anson. Runners: M. Kidd & D. Bauer. Schedule: Saturday - Eastern Canada/Sacramento @ 10am, New York @ 4pm. Sunday - Arizona @ 11am.
Note: If either team makes the final, it will be held on Sunday @ 3:30pm.
Club captain Kathryn Zakus and vice captain Holly Greatwich were asked about our club's preparation for Mason and how they feel the teams will perform.
Kathryn:
We've seen a lot of changes around the club over the past year, with a lot of new girls trying footy for the first time. Eleven of the girls who won US Nationals with us last year aren't returning this year for various reasons, so we don't know how we will go. Plugger (Amanda O'Rae), Ginger (Meg Goodfellow) and Mumf (Kathryn Mumford) especially will be big losses, as they were all in our starting side. But we're lucky to be taking a fun group of girls in both teams that will do us proud in Mason.
Holly:
I got hurt during pre-season, so I haven't had the smoothest year. I think I played seven games and missed about ten, and it was frustrating to sit on the sidelines with our other injured girls and just watch. I'm really looking forward to my first Nationals as a 21-year-old, and all the fun and partying that that will entail. I'm really stoked that we're sending two teams, and I'll be supporting Calgary White as loudly as I can from the sidelines. They're an outstanding group of girls and I'm just so proud to be a part of this club!
We are fortunate to be joined in Mason by three girls from other western Canadian clubs. Lauren Mantei and Katie Nanka from WestCoast and Amanda Layther from Edmonton will be warmly welcomed into the Calgary fold for a fun weekend of footy. We also have Debbie Mantei from Vancouver and Adrienne Anson from Warrnambool (Australia) joining us as guest Team Managers for the weekend. The team will arrive in Mason on October 8 & 9 and train on Friday afternoon before flying out on Canadian Thanksgiving.
Leslie Gurba was the pride of the club 
when she was selected to run with the Olympic Torch when it passed through Canmore on January 20th, 2010. Gurbs entered a Coca-Cola competition and was selected from among thousands of applicants for the privilege. The weather could not have been better for Gurbs' run and she was cheered along by fellow Kookaburras Lesley "Zed" Zmurchuk and Ciara "Lanners" Lanigan. Gurbs is an accomplished sportswoman, having represented Canada at Australian football and having played and coached top-level women's rugby for a number of years. Her sporting achievements, including her participation with the Kookaburras were mentioned on the Coca-Cola Torch Relay website. Congratulations Gurbs!
Former Kookaburra Kylie "Smiles" Clancy has returned to Sydney and is lacing up her footy boots with the newest club in the Sydney Women's AFL. Smiles got her first taste of Australian football playing with our club in 2009 and becomes the third Kookaburra to play footy with a club Down Under. We wish Smiles and the Southern Power good luck in their first season competing in our sister league. For more coverage, read this article from the St. George & Sutherland Shire Leader newspaper.
Six Kookaburras joined Australian football representatives from the Calgary and Edmonton men's and women's clubs in Canmore on January 30th for the inaugural Alberta Footy Summit. The purpose of the meeting was to plan a schedule for the 2010 footy season and to workshop ways in which the Alberta clubs can better work together to improve our footy competitions, social events, junior development programs and to acquire permanent fields. The summit was declared a success by all who attended, and the 2010 season looks set to be the most-exciting and best-organized yet. Stay tuned for further info in coming days.
Lastly, the Kookaburras are now on Twitter. Click on this link to go to our Twitter page. To launch this new feature, we will be announcing the appointment of the 2010 Head Coach and making a second exciting announcement on Wednesday, February 10th!
