Irvine, Calif. – The Canadian Women’s National Softball Team is set to compete at the USA Softball International Cup in Irvine, Calif. this week from July 9-15. Team Canada will start the event with a doubleheader, facing Mexico at 4:00pm PDT followed by Venezuela at 6:30pm PDT on Monday, July 9th.
The event will feature a total of 13 teams, including six of the top eight countries from the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Women’s Softball World Rankings – No. 1 Japan, No. 2 USA No. 3 Canada, No. 5 Chinese Taipei, No. 6 Puerto Rico and No. 7 Mexico. Also competing will be No. 10 Czech Republic, No. 12 China, No. 17 Venezuela, No. 19 Peru and No. 31 Colombia. The United States will field a second team and the Scrap Yard Dawgs will also be playing to complete the field. The teams have been divided into two pools, with the top team from each pool advancing to the Gold medal game and other teams paired up for placement games.
Team Canada is coming off a two-week tour of Japan where they went 10-1 against local club teams. Following the completion of the USA Softball International Cup, Canada will travel to Surrey, B.C. to compete at the Canada Cup International Softball Championship from July 17-22. The WBSC Women’s Softball World Championship will take place August 2-12 in Chiba, Japan.
The athletes who will represent Team Canada at the USA Softball International Cup are:
ATHLETES
| FIRST NAME | LAST NAME | HOMETOWN |
| Kara | Bilodeau | Cumming, Ga. |
| Kristen | Brown | Levittown, N.Y. |
| Jenna | Caira | Toronto, Ont. |
| Emma | Entzminger | Victoria, B.C. |
| Larissa | Franklin | Maple Ridge, B.C. |
| Kenzie | Friesen | Saskatoon, Sask. |
| Jennifer | Gilbert | Saskatoon, Sask. |
| Sara | Groenewegen | Surrey, B.C. |
| Victoria | Hayward | Toronto, Ont. |
| Karissa | Hovinga | Edmonton, Alta. |
| Kelsey | Jenkins | Delta, B.C. |
| Janet | Leung | Mississauga, Ont. |
| Joey | Lye | Toronto, Ont. |
| Sara | Plourde | Baker Lake, N.B. |
| Erika | Polidori | Brantford, Ont. |
| Kaleigh | Rafter | Guelph, Ont. |
| Jenn | Salling | Port Coquitlam, B.C. |
| Nicole | Schroeder | Yorba Linda, Calif. |
| Holly | Speers | Surrey, B.C. |
| Natalie | Wideman | Mississauga, Ont. |
COACHING STAFF
| POSITION | NAME | HOMETOWN |
| Head Coach | Mark Smith | Falmouth, N.S. |
| Assistant Coach | Melissa Basilio | Oshawa, Ont. |
| Assistant Coach | Russell Cooper | Tahiti Bay, NZL |
| Assistant Coach | Dave Paetkau | Abbotsford, B.C. |
| Performance Analyst | Hubie Basilio | Oshawa, Ont. |
| Performance Analyst | Glenn Boles | St. Catharines, Ont. |
| Strength & Conditioning | Melissa Lacroix | Penetanguishene, Ont. |
| Mental Performance | Lauren Tashman | Pennington, N.J. |
| Athletic Therapist | Nikki Antonopoulos | Caledon, Ont. |
| Team Leader | Melissa Finley | London, Ont. |
UMPIRES
| FIRST NAME | LAST NAME | HOMETOWN |
| Andrew | Gallant | Berry Mills, N.B. |
| Geneviève | Gaudreau | La Prairie, Que. |
| Scott | McLaren | Penticton, B.C. |
TEAM CANADA SCHEDULE
| DATE | GAME | TIME | MEDIA |
| July 9 | Canada vs. Mexico | 4:00pm PDT | Stream | Stats |
| Canada vs. Venezuela | 6:30pm PDT | Stream | Stats | |
| July 10 | Canada vs. Colombia | 4:30pm PDT | Stream | Stats |
| July 11 | Canada vs. Japan | 11:30pm PDT | Stream | Stats |
| July 12 | Canada vs. United States Blue | 4:00pm PDT | ESPN | Stats |
| July 13 | Canada vs. Czech Republic | 11:00am PDT | Stream | Stats |
| July 15 | Placement Games | TBD | Stream | Stats |
