VICTORIA – The University of Victoria Vikes will have three women’s rugby athletes and one mission staff member among the over 300 delegation representing Team Canada at the upcoming FISU Summer Universiade in Naples, Italy from Jul. 3-14.
Named to the Canadian women’s rugby 7s roster are Brooke Bazian, Renee Gonzales and Chanelle Edwards-Challenger. All three were a part of the Vikes winning the Canadian University National 7s title and Canada West 7s banner in the 2018-19 season. Also selected to the delegation is Vikes Communications Officer and former Vikes field hockey player, Ali Baggott. Baggott will join the Mission Staff as a Communications Officer along side Calgary’s Ben Matchett, Toronto’s Jill Clark and Laval’s Stephane Jobin.
Canada will compete in 12 sports, including athletics, basketball (men and women), diving, fencing, gymnastics (artistic and rhythmic), soccer (women only), swimming, table tennis, taekwando, rugby sevens (men and women), volleyball (men and women) and water polo (women only). All teams were selected in partnership with each respective National Sports Organization (NSO) or are being managed by the U SPORTS national office.
The full delegation totals over 300 including student-athletes, coaches, staff, and medical personnel.
Complete rosters are available below, with men’s rugby sevens to be added at a later date.
“The Mission Staff is looking forward to delivering a great experience for our Canadian delegation,” said Team Canada Chef de Mission Ari Grossman. “Representing Canada at any sporting event is a huge honour and responsibility and we are pleased to welcome all team members and congratulate them on this exciting accomplishment.”
To celebrate the milestone 30th edition and 60th anniversary of the World University Summer Games, the event returns to its first home, where it was originally held in Turin, Italy in 1969.
Canada finished in 16th at the 2017 FISU Summer Universiade in Taipei City, Chinese Taipei with 13 medals (four gold, five silver, four bronze). This year’s games will run from July 3-14, with some competitions beginning on July 2 and will feature over 9,300 athletes from 128 countries.
The Opening Ceremony will be held on July 3 at 3:00 p.m. ET / 12:00 p.m. PT (9:00 p.m. local time). The full schedule is available here.
“We are very excited to reveal the members of Team Canada for the 2019 FISU Summer Universiade. Every student-athlete on this team has shown the ability to balance academics and athletics, and we are tremendously proud to have them wear the maple leaf in Naples, Italy,” said Lisette Johnson-Stapley, Chief Sport Officer at U SPORTS. “As the Olympics of University Sport, the FISU Games are an excellent opportunity for all of our student-athletes to compete against fellow world-class talent, as they set their sights on gold.”
To support Team Canada through the Be a Game Changer RallyMe fundraising campaign click here.
Follow Team Canada on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @USPORTSIntl and use #uCAN.
2019 FISU SUMMER UNIVERSIADE TEAM CANADA DELEGATION
BY THE NUMBERS:
| Competitors | Staff | Medical | |||||
| Sport | Men | Women | Men | Women | Men | Women | Total |
| Mission Staff | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 28 |
| Artistic Gymnastics | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Athletics | 14 | 27 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 52 |
| Men’s Basketball | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| Women’s Basketball | 0 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Diving | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Fencing | 7 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| Rhythmic Gymnastics | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Men’s Rugby 7s | To be announced at a later date | ||||||
| Women’s Rugby 7s | 0 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
| Women’s Soccer | 0 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 24 |
| Swimming | 16 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 38 |
| Table Tennis | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Taekwondo | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Men’s Volleyball | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 |
| Women’s Volleyball | 0 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 16 |
| Water Polo | 0 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 17 |
MISSION STAFF
| First Name | Last Name | Position | Affiliation |
| Ari | Grossman | Chef de Mission | Waterloo |
| Charonne | Thomasos | Assistant Chef de Mission | U SPORTS |
| Karla | Karch | Operations Manager | Mount Royal |
| Barbara | Giroud | Operations Assistant | U SPORTS |
| Curt | Warkentin | Operations Officer | Manitoba |
| Renee | Ridout | Logistics and Accreditation Officer | U SPORTS |
| Julie | Dionne | Logistics & Accreditation Officer | Laval |
| Guy | Dubé | Sport Services | RMC |
| Scott | Ring | Team Services | U SPORTS |
| Antonella | Lee | Translator | UBC Okanagan |
| Ben | Matchett | Communications Manager | Calgary |
| Ali | Baggott | Communications Officer | Victoria |
| Jill | Clark | Communications Officer | Toronto |
| Stéphane | Jobin | Communications Officer | Laval |
| Mathieu | Bélanger | Photographer | Laval |
| Sam | Charles | Videographer | UBC Okanagan |
WOMEN’S RUGBY 7s
| First Name | Last Name | School | Hometown | Program |
| Delaney | Aikens | UBC | Briercrest, Sask. | Arts |
| Brooke | Bazian | Victoria | Kamloops, B.C. | Social Sciences |
| Shawna | Brayton | Concordia | Chateauguay, Que. | Fine Arts |
| Hailey | Driscoll | Lethbridge | Lethbridge, Alta. | Psychology / Kinesiology |
| Renee | Gonzalez | Victoria | Plymouth, Minn. | Social Sciences |
| Talia | Hoffman | Guelph | Binbrook, Ont. | Environmental Sciences |
| Asia | Hogan-Rochester | York | Toronto, Ont. | Communications Studies |
| Tatiana | Joseph | Montreal | Saint-Lazare, Que. | Medicine |
| Julia | Schell | Guelph | Uxbridge, Ont. | Sociology |
| Erika | Scott | Bishop’s | Dewittville, Que. | Education |
| Taejah | Thompson | Calgary | Calgary, Alta. | Arts |
Head Coach: Collette McCauley, Guelph
Assistant Coach: Darcy Patterson, UBC
Athletic Therapist: Sarah Keindal, Ottawa
