OUTLOOK - Athlete Lauren Vye of Outlook is smiling pretty wide these days.
The decorated football player, who plays for the Saskatoon Valkyries, experienced quite a humbling-yet-thrilling adventure this summer when she flew over to Vantaa, Finland to compete for her country in the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Women's World Championship.
The red and white of the Team Canada squad played some impressive football on the international stage, including a swift 33-6 victory over the Australia roster on July 30 that started Canada's journey on the right foot.
Lauren says the experience of being in Finland playing the game that she loves was virtually life-altering and made for a great learning opportunity.
"It was just amazing," she said, sitting down with this reporter. "The trip was not only fantastic itself, but just the learning experience and getting to see so much high-caliber women's football was really fantastic. Seeing the progress that a lot of the other teams had made from the last world championship was really great to see too."
Vye says she didn't let her nerves get the better of her, as she says that staff did a great job in making the athletes feel comfortable as they focused on getting out on the field.
"I didn't find it too bad," she said. "I was really kind of surprised with myself. I think the coaching staff did an amazing job getting us really ready and comfortable for the games. So really, nobody seemed overly nervous because we knew what we had to do and went out there and did our best with it."
For Lauren, there really aren't too many words that can describe staring down at a jersey with the word 'Canada' emblazoned across the front and knowing that you're representing your home country. She says that the atmosphere was unlike anything she's ever experienced in her life.
"There really isn't very many words to describe it - it's a very surreal feeling to be standing in the tunnel and waiting to be introduced as Team Canada," said Lauren. "The whole tunnel's loud, everyone's banging on walls, the people above you are going crazy in the bleachers, and to run out was really amazing as they did a wonderful entrance with smoke, fire and fireworks. It was amazing to go out on the field and hear the national anthem and know that you've got 'Team Canada' across your chest."
With the Canadian team bringing together the best of the best from across the country, Lauren says that the team took time to get to know each other and form a familiarity that would hopefully make for good results on the field.
"When we first got to Finland, we went to a training camp that was a really outstanding athletic facility," she said. "It was actually right on the lake, so we had a lot of bonding down at the lake. After practice, you tore your pads off and went jumping in the lake; it was hot, and you're feeling sweaty and gross, so it was a really awesome chance for us to bond and get to hang with the girls from the other side of the country who you really don't know. Even the Saskatoon and Regina girls, it was great being together and getting to relax on the lake."
As for the action itself, while Canada started off impressive with that 33-6 win over Australia, they found themselves matched up against some tough competition in games against Great Britain and the hosting Finland. Against the Brits, a 10-yard pass was caught with only two seconds left that broke a 13-13 tie, sending them to the championship game. When Canada squared off against Finland in the Bronze Medal game, things showed themselves to be fairly even, ultimately ending at a 19-17 score for Finland. This would mark the first time that Team Canada had been ousted from the podium in the event's history.
Despite not getting the results that the team was hoping for, Lauren says the experience of being out there on a world stage was unreal.
"Obviously, the first game was the most fun because we went out there and we smashed Australia, so that was really awesome in being the first game out there," she said. "We really kicked butt and won, which was really cool. The hardest game was probably the last game we played. Both of our final games were very difficult games as we lost both in the last 30 seconds and in the last couple of plays of the game. The hardest one, of course, was losing that medal game for sure. Just because it came down to it, we had an opportunity, and we just weren't able to make it happen. That's the worst feeling, knowing that we couldn't get it done."
Looking back on the journey she's just had, Vye recognizes that this is the biggest thing she has done in athletics ever.
"Up to this point, absolutely," she said. "I'm hoping to maybe do one more as I think it lit a fire under all of us. We'd like to put one more under our belt and get a better result, for sure. Hopefully, if I can manage to make the team once again in a couple years time, hopefully we'll achieve a better result. That will 'officially' be the pinnacle, but for now, absolutely it is."
Elaborating on that thought process, Lauren says that she will do everything possible to ensure that she makes it to the IFAF Women's World Championship again. For her, the proverbial fire has been lit and there's no putting it out anytime soon.
"Absolutely," she said. "I knew that after the finish of this season, I wasn't completely done yet despite what the results were at this world championship. This really lit the fire to make me want to stick it out long enough and work hard enough to try and hit this point again."
