For Immediate Release
September 9, 2024
Football Ontario Recaps 2024 High Performance Programming and National Events
Ontario Medals Twenty-One Times at National Events in 2024
Hamilton, Ontario – Football Ontario has concluded all National Events for the 2024 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 as well as the many club teams who represented the province on a National Stage. Football Ontario would also like to thank all of our partners and sponsors who allowed the organization to experience success at events.
Football Ontario had the opportunity to host the two largest National Events of 2024, with Elite Flag Nationals in Kingston, ON and Club Flag Nationals in Brampton, ON. Both of these events hosted 40+ clubs and were the largest National Flag Tournaments to date. Both of these events were incredibly successful and the organization would like to thank everyone who helped to make these events happen.
“The 2024 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 across the board. I am very proud to see both of our U18 Tackle teams finish atop the podium at their respective events, for the first time ever on the Women’s side and the first time in a decade on the men’s side.” says Aaron Geisler, CEO 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, sponsors, and partners to help ensure that not a single athlete was unable to participate in the Team Ontario process due to financial barriers. We are well into our planning for 2025 and look to take another leap in Team Ontario programming and build upon our successes in 2024.”
There were a total of 13 Team Ontario Teams in 2024 and they combined for 9 total medals at 4 different events, earning 2 Gold Medals, 5 Silver Medal and 2 Bronze Medals.
On the club side, Football Ontario club teams were able to combine for 12 total medals at 2 different events in 2024, earning 6 Gold Medals, 2 Silver Medals, and 5 Bronze Medals
Football Ontario is incredibly proud of all of the many athletes, coaches, volunteers, staff members, and parents who helped the organization have their best year yet at the National Championships. The organization hopes to build upon these successes and be able to set the standard for football excellence across the country.
U18 Male Tackle Wins the 2024 Football Canada Cup
Team Ontario’s U18 Male Tackle Team claimed Gold at the 2024 Canada Cup for the first time since 2024, breaking a decade-long drought and maintaining the organization’s goal of setting a standard of excellence in Canadian football.
The team had one of the strongest Canada Cup showings in recent memory with decisive victories in each round over Team Nova Scotia, Team Saskatchewan, and Team Quebec.
Team Ontario would finish the tournament with 135 points for and only 14 points allowed. Averaging 45 points per game on offence and only allowing 4.7 points per game on defence.
Football Ontario would like to give a special thank you to Head Coach, Rob Underhill, who was able to claim Gold in his final year as Head Coach with the Program. Coach Underhill has been a part of the Team Ontario coaching staff for 25 years in a variety of different roles and was the longest serving member of the Team Ontario staff.
The Team Ontario Program has developed a number of great athletes under Coach Underhill and his tenure has left the organization capable of continuing this into the future.
The organization views this Gold Medal as ushering in a new age of High-Performance Male Tackle Football in the province and looks to see further successes in the future.
Football Ontario Sends Two Teams to the U18 Women’s National Championship and Team Red Claims Gold
Team Ontario was able to have two U18 Women’s Tackle Teams participate in the 2024 Women’s National Championship in Fredericton, NB.
Team Ontario Red would have an unbelievable tournament, securing victories over Team New Brunswick, Team Quebec, before taking on the reigning champions, Team Alberta, in the Gold Medal Game.
After falling behind 8-0 early on in the game, Team Ontario Red would respond and never look back, winning the Gold Medal with a final score of 25-8. This remarkable achievement marked Ontario’s first ever top place finish at the Women’s National Championship, in the third year of the event.
Team Ontario Black, finished the tournament in 8th place with losses to the National Indigenous Team, Team Saskatchewan, and Team New Brunswick. However, the team showed a lot of growth and determination throughout the duration of the Championship Week and the organization is proud of all of the athletes and coaches who represented their province.
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. Football Ontario would again like to congratulate Team Red on their historic achievement and look forward to more success in future National Championships.
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 Antigonish, NS. 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. Team Ontario would lose a closely contested defensive battle with Team Quebec coming out on top with a narrow 18-15 victory.
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. Football Ontario would also like to congratulate them on their Silver Medal.
Team Ontario Claims 6 Medals at Elite Flag Nationals in Kingston, ON
Football Ontario hosted the first ever Elite Flag National Championships in Kingston this past season, the event was a great success and was the largest National Elite Flag event to date. 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. Football Ontario would also like to thank Queen’s University for hosting this event and allowing the organization to utilize their facilities for the duration of the event.
Football Ontario was able to send 9 teams to this event in 8 different divisions. The organization sent a U14 Boys Team, a U16 Boys Team, a U18 Boys Team, and an 18 Men’s Team, as well as two U14 Girls’ Teams, a U16 Girls Team, a U18 Girls Team, and an 18 Women’s Team.
Team Ontario would have a lot of success at the Championships with 6 of the 9 teams earning medals. The 18 Women’s Team, U18 Girls Team, U18 Boys Team, and U16 Boys Team would all earn Silver Medals at the tournament. The U14 Boys Team and one of the U14 Girls Team’s (Team Red) would earn Bronze at the tournament.
Football Ontario is incredibly excited about the growth the organization’s High-Performance Flag programs have seen and look forward to hosting this event again next year as the organization aims to improve and earn Gold at the event.
Ontario Clubs Claim 11 Medals at Club Flag Nationals in Brampton, ON
Football Ontario had the opportunity to host the largest National Club Flag Championships in Canada to date, hosting the Club National Championships in Brampton, ON. Club teams from all across the country traveled to take part in this great event. Football 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.
The event would play host to 6 different divisions, with a U14, U16, and U18 Boys and Girls tournament all taking place over the course of the weekend.
Football Ontario is proud to share that the host province was able to earn the Gold Medal in all six divisions, while adding two Silver Medals in the U16 Boys Division and the U14 Girls Division, and adding three Bronze Medals in the U16 Girls Division, U16 Boys Division, and U14 Girls Division.
Football Ontario would like to give a special mention to all of the club teams who medaled at the event below!
U18 Girls Gold Medalist – Ottawa Hawks
U18 Boys Gold Medalist – Niagara Nitros
U16 Girls Gold Medalist – Niagara Nitros
U16 Girls Bronze Medalist – UA Durham Elite
U16 Boys Gold Medalist – Dawksports Cowboys
U16 Boys Silver Medalist – UA Durham Elite
U16 Boys Bronze Medalist- Niagara Nitros
U14 Girls Gold Medalist – BMFA Bills
U14 Girls Silver Medalist – UA Halton Fire
U14 Girls Bronze Medalist – Niagara Nitros
U14 Boys Gold Medalist – Dawksports Cowboys
Team Ontario would like to thank the athletes, coaches, volunteers, parents and the clubs that attended this tournament and the organization looks forward to hosting it again in 2024 and hopes for the Ontario clubs to have success again next year.
Ontario Claims 1 Bronze Medal at SR Flag Nationals
Only one Ontario team attended the Senior Flag National Championships this year in Kamloops, BC.
Sweet Heat would attend on the Women’s Side. The team would go 2-1 in Pool Play and have a strong showing in the Quarter Finals before falling to the eventual Gold Medalists in the Semis.
They would rebound with a 47-33 victory in the Bronze Medal Game
Football Ontario is extremely proud of all of our High-Performance Teams for the 2024 Year. However, the organization will strive to improve and enhance the athletes’ experience in order for them to perform at the highest level in 2025.
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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
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