For Immediate Release 

September 8, 2023

Football Ontario Recaps 2023 High Performance Programming

Football Ontario Medals Nine Times at National Events in 2023

Hamilton, Ontario – Football Ontario has concluded all National Events for the 2023 calendar year. The organization is incredibly proud of all of its Team Ontario teams, athletes, coaches, and volunteers who all represented the organization to the best of their ability. Football Ontario would also like to thank all of our partners and sponsors who allowed the organization to experience success at events.

“The 2023 Team Ontario season saw a full slate of teams across all age groups in both tackle and flag for both women and men. We are incredibly proud of all the hard work that our teams put in and we continue to see significant growth and development in the second year of our new program.” says Aaron Geisler, Executive Director of Football Ontario, “We saw podium finishes for almost all of our teams and that is a testament to the many coaches, administrators and talented athletes we have across the province. Most importantly we saw a significant investment from businesses and partners to help ensure that not one athlete was unable to participate in the Team Ontario process due to financial barriers. We are well into our planning for 2024 and look to take another big leap in Team Ontario programming in the province”

There were a total of 13 Team Ontario Teams in 2023 and they combined for 9 total medals in 9 different events, earning 1 Gold Medal, 1 Silver Medal and 7 Bronze Medals. The organization hopes to build upon the successes of this past year and become even more successful in the future.

U18 Women’s Tackle Team Black Finishes 1st in Cummings Division and Team Red Finishes 3rd in Harlow Division at National Championship

Football Ontario hosted the second ever U18 Women’s Tackle National Championship in Ottawa this past season, the event was a great success and showed incredible growth from the prior year, with 3 more teams involved, including a second team from Ontario as well as a National Indigenous Team. Ontario is grateful to have hosted this event and would like to thank the many partners, sponsors, and volunteers who made the event a successful one.

Team Ontario Red and Team Ontario Black both opened Day 1 with a victory, earning them each a Semi-Final berth in their respective divisions; Team Red in the Harlow Division and Team Black in the Cummings Division. Team Red would fall in their Semi-Final match to eventual Gold Medalist, Team Alberta. Team Black, would come out very strong in their game and would earn a shot at the Cummings Division Gold. Both medal games ended up being one-score affairs, with Team Ontario Black winning a defensive battle 8-0 over Team Manitoba, and Team Red coming out with a 24-16 victory over Team Saskatchewan.

“The 2023 U18 Women’s Tackle National Championship was an incredible tournament, highlighting the top U18 women’s tackle football players in the country. This event could not have been possible without the work of our Host Committee, event volunteers and our Football Ontario Staff. The months of planning and behind-the-scenes effort made for an unforgettable experience for all the teams involved. I am proud of the achievements of our two Ontario teams – Team Ontario Red winning bronze in the Harlow Division, and Team Ontario Black winning gold in the Cummings Division. I believe this event shows the development of women’s tackle football in this country and I am excited to see how Ontario can continue growing ahead of next year’s tournament.” says Emily Todd, Director of Development and Administration with Football Ontario.

Football Ontario is proud of both teams for representing the province so well and would like to thank both coaching staffs for all of their hard work throughout the week as well as all of the amazing volunteers and partners who assisted with hosting this great event.

U18 Male Tackle Team Finishes Tied for 3rd at the Canada Cup

Team Ontario’s U18 Male Tackle Team came out strong in the 2023 Canada Cup winning their first game against Team British Columbia before losing a close game to the defending champions, Team Saskatchewan. The final score of the Semi-Final game against Team Saskatchewan was 15-12 and the entire team battled until the final whistle.

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances with the air quality in Edmonton the medal games were unable to be played, Football Canada recently announced that Team Ontario and Team Alberta would be co-Bronze Medal winners. 

Football Ontario would like to applaud the resiliency of our U18 Male Tackle coaches, athletes, and parents and the organization hopes to return to the 2024 Canada Cup stronger than ever. 

U16 Male Tackle Team Claims Silver at the Eastern Regional Challenge

Team Ontario’s U16 male tackle team participated in the 2023 Football Canada Eastern Regional Challenge in Sackville, NB. They started off the tournament very strong with a huge win against eventual Bronze Medalist, Team Nova Scotia, which earned them a spot in the Gold Medal game against Team Quebec.

Team Ontario would fall to Team Quebec in the Gold Medal Game in a back and forth, closely contested game. This was the closest Team Ontario has ever played Team Quebec at this event and Football Ontario looks forward to having the opportunity to return to the Eastern Challenge in 2024 in search of Gold at the event.

The organization would also like to give a special acknowledgement to the staff and athletes who traveled to the East Coast on how they handled themselves at the event and for the #ALLIN mentality they displayed. 

Team Ontario Claims Two Bronze Medals at SR Nationals

Football Ontario sent 3 teams to SR Flag Nationals, one SR Male team and two SR Women’s teams. The event was hosted by the organization at Carleton University in Ottawa.

Two of the three teams made it to the medal round with the organization’s SR Male Team Ontario falling in the Semi-Finals to Team Canada who they had managed to upset in pool play. Team Ontario 1 on the Women’s side would fall to the eventual champions in a tight game in the Semi-Final. 

Both of these teams would go on to have their best games in the Bronze Medal Games, showcasing their talent and abilities in huge victories.. 

As for the other team, SR Women’s Team Ontario 2 made it to the Quarter-Finals and also lost a tight game to the eventual champion on the women’s side.

Team Ontario Earns Bronze in Winnipeg at U18 Flag Nationals

Football Ontario sent 2 teams to U18 Flag Nationals in Winnipeg, one boys team and one girls team.

The organization was able to claim Bronze at this event on the women’s side. Team Ontario would persevere through the stormy conditions and come up with a thrilling OT victory against Team Nova Scotia in what was a close game all the way through.

The U18 Boys came out strong, winning their first game, but would end up finishing in 8th at the tournament.

Team Ontario would like to thank the athletes, coaches, volunteers, and parents who helped assist in the creation of these teams and for their adaptability and resilience they showed while in Winnipeg.

The U18 Girls went into the Bronze Medal Game as underdogs as they had previously lost to Team Nova Scotia in Pool Play but they scored an amazing Game Winning Touchdown with under 2 minutes to play to claim Bronze.

The U18 Girls battled hard but ultimately fell short in the Bronze Medal Game, earning them fourth place in the tournament. They did not quit at any point in the tournament and should be commended for both their high level of play and effort.

The U16 Girls, similar to the U20 Girls, had a rematch against a Team Nova Scotia squad that they had previously lost to in Pool Play. They would also be able to pull out the victory earning them the Bronze Medal at Eastern Regionals.

Team Ontario Earns Two Bronze Medals at U16 Flag Nationals

Football Ontario sent a total of four teams, 2 girls and 2 boys teams, to the U16 Flag National Championships on the East Coast. All teams impressed immediately finishing at or near the top of their respective pools. 

All four teams would end up making it to the quarterfinals, before enduring some close losses in the Quarters and Semis.

Team Ontario White on the boys side and Team Ontario East on the girls side south both end up playing in the Bronze Medal Games and coming out on top.

The Team Ontario East girls squad would capture the Bronze with a 21-7 victory over Team Manitoba West.

The Team Ontario White boys team would win a back and forth game against Team BC, scoring at the end of the game, to take home the Bronze in a 33-27 victory.

Football Ontario is extremely proud of all of our High-Performance Teams for the 2023 Year. However, the organization will strive to improve and enhance the athletes’ experience in order for them to perform at the highest level in 2024.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

www.footballontario.net
ABOUT FOOTBALL ONTARIO: Football Ontario is the sanctioned provincial governing body for football in Ontario, through its focus on transparency, growth, alignment and excellence, is engaged in providing football opportunities for all of Ontario. Football Ontario is driven by a commitment to deliver football programming, opportunities and resources for its members and the provincial football stakeholders. Please visit: footballontario.net