Canadian women embrace pressure ahead of flag football world championship

An Olympic berth is available, but neither head coach Rachel Lessard nor quarterback Sara Parker see it as the biggest prize for Canada at the world women's flag football championship.

Canada will compete at the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) world championship Aug. 13-16 in Duesseldorf, Germany. The top-two teams will qualify for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, where flag football will make its Olympic debut.

If the United States reaches the final, the top-three will advance as the Americans already have an Olympic spot as host.

But Canada will play with a gold medal in mind. The Canadians qualified for the world event by reaching last year's IFAF Americas Continental championship in Panama, dropping a 12-0 decision to Mexico in a contest halted in the first half due to severe weather.

"I feel very confident with where we're at right now compared to last year," Lessard said. "I feel like we're more polished.

"Our roster hasn't been finalized yet but we have so much depth and so many players who can do many different things. I think aiming for gold is something we can achieve."

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Earlier this month, Canada defeated the U.S. 34-33 in Los Angeles. Parker finished 19-of-25 passing for 164 yards and three touchdowns.

"We used mostly the same plays we did last summer but executed them at a higher level without adding anything funky or different to our offence," Parker said. "I think that shows we've progressed immensely from last summer.

"Honesty, I'd hate to be the other teams (at world event) because we're coming in hot and with a