High flying performances abundant on first day of U18 Flag Nationals

July 21, Winnipeg, MB – The Football Canada U18 Flag Football National Championships 2023 got underway on Friday at IG Field in Winnipeg, MB, in the first of three competition days to crown the best boys and girls’ teams in the country.

Eight teams are vying for the title in the Girls Division, including Team Québec who will look to defend their title. They started the competition with a strong showing collecting two convincing wins, first over Team Alberta (33-0) and then Team Nova Scotia (30-0), giving them the top spot in their pool going into day two. The other pool was dominated by Team Saskatchewan who came out victorious against Team Manitoba East (19-0) and Team Ontario (18-9).

The action resumes in the Girls Division on Saturday morning with the last pool games before moving to the quarterfinals and semi-finals in the afternoon. With tough matchups ahead, Team PEI (vs Québec 10:50am) and Team Manitoba West (vs Saskatchewan 9:30am) will look to pull off their first wins of the tournament.

In the Boys Division, two Manitoba teams are among the eight contestants for the championship, proudly representing their host province and looking to defend the title. Team Manitoba West put themselves in great position to do so by defeating their two opponents of the day, first in a close game against Team Nova Scotia (28-24), and then to close the day against Team PEI (34-18). They now have a game against Team Saskatchewan on Saturday morning in what could be a turning point in the pool standings.

Team BC took the lead in the other pool after the first day of competition thanks to wins over a worthy challenger in Team Québec (28-25) and Team Ontario (46-6). Their path to the quarterfinals goes through a matchup against Team Manitoba East who has yet to rally to a win in this tournament. As per the Girls Division, the group phase will conclude Saturday morning before moving on to quarterfinals and semifinals in the afternoon.

Games on fields 1 and 2 are livestreamed on Football Canada TV. The entire schedule and complete results are also available at https://footballcanada.com/event/2023-u18-flag-football-national-championships/