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 WhiteL. 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
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:
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.
