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31 Canadians named to world team

31 Canadians named to world team

World team head coach JAN JENMERT and his coaching staff has selected 43 players from eight countries and four continents to face USA Football's junior national team at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday, January 30.

The game will match an eventual 45-man World team composed of the best players aged 19 and under selected from International Federation of American Football (IFAF) member countries against 45 of the top high school seniors from the United States.

NFL Network will provide live coverage of the game, which is designated an official Pro Bowl Week event by the NFL, at 12 noon ET on January 30. The game will follow AFC and NFC Pro Bowl practices, which conclude earlier that day, and admission to both events is free.

The World team roster is comprised of players representing American Samoa (2), Australia (1), Canada (31), France (1), Germany (1), Japan (3), Mexico (1) and Sweden (3), who were selected from a provisional list of 100 players nominated by IFAF federations. They will practice nine times while in Fort Lauderdale from January 24-29.

"Selecting only 45 players from the list of quality players who were recommended is a difficult task, but I believe we have assembled a balanced group who will be competitive," said coach Jenmert, who is also head coach of the Sweden junior national team.

"We listened to the opinions of coaches from around the world, watched film and measured each player's personal strengths to make our selections and now look forward to coming together as a unit for the first time on January 24 to prepare to face USA Football's Team USA."

The World squad includes 22 players who starred at the 2009 IFAF Junior World Championship (JWC) in Canton, Ohio, when Canada won the silver medal; Japan took bronze with a win over Mexico and Germany finished as the best-placed European competitor.

Among those who impressed in Canton is World team and Vanier College quarterback JEREMI DOYON-ROCH, who completed 33 of 56 attempts for 423 yards and 4 touchdowns in three games as Canada's starter.

"It is a great honor to be part of this elite team and event, which will showcase some of the best players in the world," said Doyon-Roch. "It is a once in a lifetime experience that I will make good use of. It will be another great opportunity for me to measure myself against the American elite of my age and having played against Team USA in Canton, I know it should be a fast and high intensity game.

Among his receiving targets will be Japanese wideout JUMPEI YOSHIMOTO of Ritsumeikan University and Canadian ALEX ANTHONY from Laurier University, who both scored fourth quarter touchdowns when on opposite sides in a thrilling IFAF JWC semi final in July that Canada edged 38-35.

"That was the greatest moment of my football career to date," said Anthony, whose 33-yard scoring catch with 1:06 remaining in the game broke Japanese hearts after Yoshimoto had scored on the previous possession, also with a 33-yard grab. "I am very excited to play with players such as Jumpei, who was very fun to watch in Canton this past summer. Playing on the same side of the ball as Jumpei, and other teammates will give us a winning combination to compete to our fullest potential."

Defensively, the World team will feature German BJÖRN WERNER, a highly recruited lineman who plays at the Salisbury School in Connecticut having first played football for the Berlin Adler in his native Germany five years ago. Werner will soon commit to one of the many schools that have recruited him: Miami, Florida, Florida State, Maryland, Oregon and California.

Anchoring the defensive line will be JESSE WILLIAMS, an indigenous Australian from Arizona Western College who first played down under for the Bayside Ravens and the Queensland Sun Devils State Team

"I look forward to the experience of playing in front of a much larger crowd than I'm used to and to show the world that indigenous Australians can play the game physically," said Williams.

Indigenous Australians are descendants of the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands distinguished as either Aboriginal people or Torres Strait Islanders. Williams' Aboriginal descendents are from the Wuthathi Tribe and Seven Rivers people in Far North Queensland and his Torres Strait Island descendents are from Moa Island and Thursday Island in Torres Strait. His great grandfather is a Torres Strait Island elder.

American Samoa will be ratified as the 58th member of IFAF at the organization's annual Congress in 2010 and has provided two players to the World team. Linebacker TAVITA KATINA played in American Samoa's 49-6 victory over Australia on January 3 and is joined by fellow linebacker BECK COULTER, who played for four years at Leone High School in American Samoa. He now lines up for Trinity (TX) Community College, while Katina plays for Marist High School in his home country.

USA Football's Team USA head coach CHRIS MERRITT of Miami Christopher Columbus High School has also announced the majority of players selected for his 45-man roster. Many have verbally committed to college football programs across eight athletic conferences. The Southeastern Conference (SEC) has the most Team USA verbal commitments at present with seven, followed by the Pac-10 with five and Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) with four.

Merritt was the 2009 USA Football Junior National Team's defensive backs coach that earned a gold medal in Canton, Ohio, this past July in the eight-nation IFAF Junior World Championship.