YORKTON - Football Canada has announced the Team Canada roster competing in Finland at the IFAF Women’s World Championship this summer, and Yorkton’s Kasey McCombs is among those selected.
McCombs, a running back, said she was up at 7 a.m. when the email arrived confirming her selection.
“I screamed. I never felt so happy in my life,” she told Yorkton This Week.
McCombs, who got her first taste of football with the Yorkton Lady Gridders, said the selection is something she has always wanted.
“Ever since I was little it’s been my biggest dream, to represent my country in a sport,” she said.
McCombs had attended the National Team Identification Camp May 6, with 136 athletes hoping to make the team.
The 136-woman roster was then reduced to 81, with those athletes then competing in the Red /White Game to close out the weekend in Ottawa.
And now the final 45 players have been announced.
McCombs said while she felt she has had a good camp, she was not sure she would be on the final roster.
“I had my doubts, just because I was so young,” she said adding many trying out were in there 20s and 30s.
McCombs said she believes she is a talented football player, and showed that in camp, “but I thought my age might hold me back.”
It helped, she said, that she listens.
“I think my attitude also helped. I’m a very coachable athlete,” she said, adding she couples that with a strong work ethic. “. . . I work very hard when I want something.”
Now McCombs will await word on what Team Canada preparations are upcoming, while continuing her season with the Regina Riot of the Western Women’s Canadian Football League where she is in her second season.
Team Canada will compete in the tournament along with defending champions Team USA, as well as teams from Finland, Mexico, Sweden, Australia, Germany and Great Britain.
The tournament will be held in Vantaa, Finland from July 28 to Aug. 8.
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