Kowalski wins silver with Team Canada

Impact player in Game 2 before tearing ACL and MCL

Katie Brickman, Moose Jaw Times

Aimee Kowalski of Team Canada came home with a silver medal at the 2013 IFAF World Women's Football Championship held in Finland over the past two weeks.
(Photo credit: Jari Turunen, wwc2013.com)

Not only did Aimee Kowalski learn and grow as a quarterback and teammate over the past two weeks, she was an impact player.

The Moose Jaw native recently returned home with a silver medal after spending time in Vantaa, Finland competing for Team Canada at the 2013 IFAF World Women’s Football Championship.

“It was really nice and I learned a lot from the coaches,” she said. “There were lots of new plays and we had to incorporate a whole new playbook. We ended up playing and practicing 14 days straight.”

Team Canada started off strong, going 2-0 in the round robin before losing in the gold medal game to the United States. They were shutout 64-0 in the final game.

In the first game, Canada crushed Spain 50-0.

“Spain is new and this was their first year,” she said. “They didn’t score in the tournament, but they had lots of heart and (were) very proud. They enjoyed themselves.”

In the second game, they played host Finland. Team Canada was down 12-6 at the half before coming back to win it 34-12, landing them a spot in the final.

“We were actually losing in the first half. I just punted in the first half and I didn’t go in as QB until the second half. We ended up winning,” Kowalski said. “It was nice to be able to make an impact in that game and lead us to the gold medal game.”

After being a big component in helping send Canada into the final game against the United States, Kowalski didn’t even make it out of the first quarter.

“I actually blew my knee out in the first quarter. I was taken away halfway through the first quarter. I went to cut and my knee just gave out. I tore my ACL, MCL and meniscus,” she stated.

She is scheduled to have surgery at some point this summer and the recovery time is about six months.

“I am a personal trainer, so from that perspective, it is just another journey and I have another experience on my resume,” she explained.

While Kowalski waits for surgery and a new Western Women’s Canadian Football League season to begin, she is already focused on bringing what she learned from this experience to the Regina Riot.

“I am really excited to apply what I learnt as a QB. I think one of the biggest things was that I have become more effective as far as footwork when handing off or when I’m throwing or on the run. I’ve really become better as a QB,” she stated.

Despite tearing her knee, the experience was positive and an honour to wear the Canadian jersey in a competition. She made sure to soak in as much as she could with all her teammates and coaches, a highlight of the trip, even if she faced some disapproval.

“I think there was some criticism if I should have made the team or not as far as my  coachability,” Kowalski said. “My quarterback coach really enjoyed working with me, so it was nice to come out and learn.”