2018 IFAF WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE RELEASED
Canada begins gold medal defence against Sweden on opening day of tournament
Canada will begin their defence of the gold medal at the 2018 IFAF World Jr Championships on Saturday July 14, 2018 when they battle Sweden at 4:00pm CDT at Olympic Stadium in Mexico City.
Recently, the official schedule for the tournament was released and Team Canada will play three games in total. The team will arrive in Mexico City on July 9th.
After their game against the Swedes, Canada will face the loser of the Mexico versus Japan game on July 18th at Roberto Stadium.
On the third and final day of the tournament, it will be the medal round. Depending on how Canada fares in the first two games will determine what game they will play on July 22nd at Olympic Stadium.
Canada is the defending gold medal champion from the 2016 tournament that took place in Harbin, China.
National Junior Team Head Coach Steve Sumarah just came back from a site visit in Mexico City and was in awe of the atmosphere just weeks before the start of the tournament.
“Being in Mexico City was an incredible experience,” he reflected. “The energy and excitement that the people of Mexico City have for this tournament is second to none.”
“The energy and history that you felt when you walked into Olympic Stadium, knowing that there is going to be 20,000 people there to watch, it just led to the fact that once again the growth of football in the world is amazing. Other countries like Australia, Sweden and Japan being there just made this a real understanding of how big this tournament is going to be.”
From his personal experience, Sumarah was overwhelmed with all the positives that the host city demonstrated to him and the other visitors.
“From my standpoint, I was more than impressed with the facilities, with the practice facility, with the hotels and just the way people treated us. This will be a second to none experience. We’re looking forward to July 9th for sure.”
2018 IFAF World Junior Championship Schedule:
July 14th: Game Day 1
US vs Australia @ 12pm
Canada vs Sweden @ 4pm
Mexico vs Japan @ 8pm
July 18th: Game Day 2
Australia vs Sweden @ 11am
Canada vs Loser of (Mexico vs Japan) @ 2pm
USA vs Winner of (Mexico vs Japan) @ 5pm
July 22nd: Final Game Day 3
5th Place Game @ 12pm
Bronze Medal game @ 4pm
Gold Medal Game @ 8pm
