Regina native and Canada's senior men's flag football defensive coordinator Joel Lipinski does not believe CFL and NFL players should immediately be given priority when picking teams for the 2028 Olympics.
"You end up having players who are paid professionally to play a sport somewhat similar. I think people are underestimating what the learning curve is going to be over that particular time frame," Lipinski told the SportsCage.
"You can't bring these guys out of their CFL or their NFL training camps to put a team together in five days and make this work. From the defensive side specifically, there ends up being four-man switch concepts that you have to work together for a good period of time. Even when you end up going to these world tournaments, you'll have male players who are in their mid-thirties, but are still the best players on the team because they work so cohesively as a unit. It's a very different game in that respect."
NFL owners unanimously approved the inclusion of their players in the Olympics, but only one player per . According to 3DowNation reporter J.C. Abbott, CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston would like players from his league to participate even if there is a scheduling .
“I would love for CFL players to be competing at the global stage of the Olympics,” Johnston said. “I’m a huge believer in the importance of flag football when it comes to the growth of the game in our country. We don’t have it quite as easy as that league down south in terms of managing our schedule, that’d be possibly an interruption. We’re looking at a number of ways we might be able to handle it. I can tell you, my motivation is to get our players there.”
The flag football landscape for Team Canada is competitive, and according to Lipinski, the Red and White are ready for the challenge.
"When we played in 2016, we got fifth, and then two years later, we got sixth. Then this last year out in Finland, we were a couple drives away to the end there, too, between one play finishing third, but we ended up finishing seventh," Lipinski recalled.
"Only six teams are going to end up going to the Olympic Games. We would have been one spot out of that right now. But in the previous years, we would have been right in there. We're right on that verge."
Lipinski wishes there could be more Saskatchewan involvement with the team.
"A missed opportunity in terms of how much this could have been hyped up. We should have some Sask guys on this team, I would be biased in that regard," Lipinski explained.
"We had many Sask players over the last worlds and over the last eight world tournaments. I know that will be something that will have to change here for sure."
Last year's Canada's senior men's flag football team had players from Saskatchewan.
