Curling our way into the Scotties BC Championship, final Olympic Figure Skating auditions + MORE!
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Canadian Tire National Figure Skating Championships ⛸
The 2022 Canadian Tire National Figure Skating Championships are taking place THIS WEEKEND in Ottawa, Ont.
The week-long championships will feature Canada’s best figure skaters and are part of the qualification criteria in selecting the Canadian team that will compete at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. Athletes are also competing for spots at the 2022 ISU World Figure Skating Championships and the 2022 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.
This is basically the final audition for the Olympics and amid some tough times, it’s a big week for figure skating. BUT due to the strict COVID-19 protocols, a positive test right now could jeopardize someone’s chances of being able to compete in Beijing. So it’s safe to say athletes will be laying low until they hit the ice.
Watch the action on Friday starting at 12pm and on Saturday starting at 10:30am ET on CBC Sports and Radio-Canada Sports!
2022 BC Scotties Curling Championships 🥌
The BC Women’s Curling Championships are underway at the Kamloops Curling club this weekend!
The events were initially postponed before receiving a special exemption from the province. And because of COVID protocols, many elements of the championship were changed. The biggest being the format - going from round robin to a triple-knockout in order to limit interactions between athletes.
It’s not exactly the curling championship athletes envisioned BUT it’s better than nothing and at least now they have the chance to compete for a provincial title.
There are eight teams and no shortage of hometown representation at this year’s provincials. One example being Team Brown of Kamloops, which includes skip Corryn Brown, third Erin Pincott, second Dezaray Hawes and lead Sam Fisher. Team Brown will be defending its back-to-back titles and is definitely a strong contender in this weekend’s competition.
Get swept up in the curling action for the women’s semis and finals, Saturday at 12pm and Sunday at 5pm ET on CBC Sports!
FA WSL ⚽️
The champagne has popped and there’s a new calendar hung up on the wall, which means it’s time for the stars of the Barclays FA Women’s Super League to lace up their boots and get back out on the pitch.
The opening game of 2022 is between Brighton and Manchester City. And around this time last year Man City absolutely destroyed Brighton with a stunning 7-1 win. It leaves me wondering… will history repeat itself?
Reading is also scheduled to play a Leicester side buoyed by its first ever FA WSL victory while leaders Arsenal are at basement side Birmingham on Sunday.
It’s been more than two years since Arsenal last won a trophy, an unthinkable drought for a club with so much history and silverware. This year, that needs to change and a win going into the second half of the season is a good start.
Tune in to this weekend’s FA WSL matchups, Sunday at 7am and 9am ET live on the FA Player!
Canadians front and centre this week with some on absolute FIRE 🔥
⚽️ Red-hot Canadian soccer stars: Our very own Jordyn Huitema and Stephanie Labbé are KILLIN' IT. Huitema continues to make us proud as she reached a pretty awesome milestone. The 20-year-old is Canada's ALL-TIME leader with 12 UEFA women's Champions League goals across the past three seasons. The PSG player is one of Canada's brightest stars! Not only did Huitema catch my eye this week, but also, Labbé. The monster in net is a top-3 finalist for The Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper award of 2020-21 after she helped Canada win gold in Tokyo with penalty shootout wins. The Alberta native is up against Germany's Ann-Katrin Berger and Chile's Christiane Endler.
🎾 Get your tennis fix: Canadian star Leylah Fernandez started her 2022 season with a win on Monday after defeating Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3, 6-4 in first-round action of the Adelaide International in Australia. AND GET THIS! The 19-year-old won 86 per cent of her first-serve points! YEAH! PLUS she had four aces. But on Thursday, Iga Swiatek was FOCUSED as can be, taking the second-round victory over Fernandez 6-1, 6-2.
Swiatek and Victoria Azarenka will meet in the quarter-finals. Not to mention the other quarter-finals matchup will include Sofia Kenin, who saved three match points to overcome Ajla Tomljanovic. THREE MATCH POINTS. Fewf! 😅
BTW, the upcoming Australian Open (which I am SO excited about) will be the first time since 1997 that the Williams sisters will not be in attendance. Venus recently announced she would not compete and Serena announced her withdrawal back in December 🥺.
🏒 Canadian hockey update: Bubble talk... Yes, more bubbles and not the fun kind you played with as a kid. The Canadian women’s hockey team will hold off from playing any more games before the Winter Olympics and will enter a bubble to ensure players can board a plane to Beijing in less than a month. The squad had three remaining Rivalry Series games, which have now been called off. BUT I can’t wait for these Olympics and I’m hoping for some Canadian revenge over the U.S. after their 2018 shootout gold. In the meantime though, I am reliving so many wonderful moments like these:
🏀 Just a friendly reminder:Just in case you're living under a rock... IT'S OFFICIAL. The legend herself, Becky Hammon, is head coach of the Las Vegas Aces. Done. That's it. PERIOD. Let that statement speak for itself. 👏👏👏
TV Guide
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Only 4% of national airtime is devoted to women’s sports. At The 4% our objective is to promote what, when, and where to watch women’s sports to help raise awareness and grow the audience for women’s sports on TV.
What about Ringette. A Canadian sport for women. Fast and furiously .Former director of coaching.