Central Blues Australian Football Club

Australia bound. Sherelle Kelly-Witt (left) and Lisa Tazzman (right) of Mississauga have been named to Canada's Australian rules football team for the International Cup, taking place in Australia from Aug. 15-17. Supplied photo

Two women named to Aussie Rules team

A pair of Mississauga women have been selected to represent Team Canada at the upcoming International Cup Australian rules football tournament, taking place in Australia from Aug. 15-27.

Sherelle Kelly-Witt and Lisa Tazzman were hand-picked from a training camp featuring some of the top players from Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Montreal. Women will be competing in the International Cup for the first time ever and Kelly-Witt, 36, said it's a big accomplishment to make the team.

"Being chosen for the women's team is amazing," said Kelly-Witt, who plays with Tazzman, 26, for the Central Blues of the Ontario Australian Football League. "In 2002, I went down as a manager of the men's team, so I've been there before but never as a player," she said. "Now that there's a women's national team, it's absolutely phenomenal."

Canada will compete against the United States, Papua New Guinea, Ireland and Australia in the five-team tournament. Kelly-Witt has played with several of the girls on the 31-player roster and feels that Canada has a strong chance of winning the tournament. "There's some great positioning and a lot of skilled players," she said. "Looking at how far we've come along since January when the team was named, I think the standards are going to be pretty good and we'll be there to fight."

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