Four sporting events involving Canadians to watch in September
Women's Basketball and Rugby Sevens World Cups among the events taking place
September is now underway, and it’s going to be an exciting month for Canadian sports fans.
Several national teams are in action around the world, including the women’s soccer team competing at one of the newest stadiums in the world. World Cups and World Championships are set to take place, as well as preparation for another.
With all of that in mind, here are four things in particular to keep an eye on this month.
FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup
Tournament runs from September 22-October 1
At the end of the month, the Canadian women’s basketball team will be back in action, competing at the World Cup in Sydney, Australia beginning on September 22.
Fourth in the world rankings, Canada are expected to compete for a medal of some kind, something they haven’t been able to do at the World Cup since 1986, a bronze medal that came seven years after their first (and only other) medal, another bronze in 1979.
They had a disappointing showing at the Olympics, finishing ninth after going in with high expectations. They lost to both Spain and eventual fourth-place finishers Serbia in the Preliminary Round — and their win over South Korea wasn’t enough to see them advance to the knockout rounds.
In 2021 they also played at the FIBA Women's AmeriCup, and finished fourth — their worst finish since finishing fifth in 2007, and just the fourth time they haven’t won a medal at the event since the inaugural 1989 tournament. After winning all four of their group games, Canada comfortably beat Dominican Republic in the quarterfinals. They would fall in the next round to the hosts Puerto Rico, before losing the bronze medal match as well to Brazil, who they beat in the group stage.
Canada will be in Group B at the World Cup, along with France, Serbia, Japan, Mali, and the hosts Australia. The top four teams will advance to the quarterfinals, before single elimination matches going all the way to the medal games on October 1.
All FIBA basketball events can be watched on Sportsnet.
Rugby World Cup Sevens
September 9-11 in Cape Town, South Africa
Rugby sevens has grown significantly in popularity in Canada, thanks in large part to the success of the Canadian women’s national team.
Over the past decade, Canada has become one of the best teams in the world, winning the first Olympic bronze in the sport’s history in 2016, winning both Pan American Games gold medals since the sport was added in Toronto in 2015, and winning back-to-back bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and in July at Birmingham 2022.
To the surprise of many, they left Tokyo 2020 empty-handed, and then had a difficult 2021-22 season in the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series. They finished a worst-ever seventh place, after finishing in the top three of all but one season going back to 2012-13 (they finished fourth in 2017–18, and the 2021 season was cancelled due to the pandemic.
Still boasting some top players, including longtime national team star Bianca Farella — who has played the most games, scored the most tries and is second among total points scored for Canada in the Sevens Series — among others, you can never rule them out.
The men’s team has had some success as well, winning gold at the 2011 and 2015 Pan American Games, as well as a silver in 2019. Their best ever finish at the World Cup Sevens is fifth place, in 2001.
Canada finished 14th in the standings in the men’s World Rugby Sevens Series, their lowest placing in over a decade, and with the legendary Nathan Hirayama retiring last year as well, it’s a bit of a transitional period for the team.
The fifth-seeded women’s side begin their tournament with a Round of 16 match against 12th-seeded China at Cape Town Stadium on the afternoon of September 9. The 10th-seeded men’s team take on 19th-seeded Zimbabwe earlier that same day.
Matches can be watched on CBC television and CBC’s digital platforms.
World Rowing Championships
Rowers will be in Racice, Czech Republic from Sept.18-25
In late-September Canadian rowers will be in Racice, Czech Republic for the 2022 World Rowing Championships. It will be the World Championships since 2019, as pandemic-related issues saw the 2020 and 2021 events cancelled.
Nine crews and 35 athletes will be competing for Canada in Racice, including a few members of Canada’s women’s eight team that won gold at Tokyo 2020 last summer. Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski, Sydney Payne, Avalon Wasteneys and coxswain Kristen Kit will all be returning from the squad that picked up Canada’s first gold in the event in nearly 30 years.
Caileigh Filmer and Hillary Janssens, who won bronze for Canada in the Women's coxless pair event in Tokyo as well as the 2018 World Championships gold in the event, are both absent from the team.
On the men’s side of things, Tokyo 2020 Olympians Jakub Buczek, Luke Gadsdon, Will Crothers and Gavin Stone are among those set to wear the maple leaf over the course of the week-long event.
The 2024 World Championships will take place in St. Catharines, Ontario, the first time Canada has hosted since 1999, also in St. Catharines. 2024 will also be an Olympic year with Paris 2024, so the next couple of years will be important for the Rowing Canada program.
Races can be watched on CBC’s digital platforms.
Women’s national soccer team back in action
Canada to play friendlies against Australia on Sept. 3 and 6, including one of the first ever events at the new Sydney Football Stadium
Continuing their preparation for next summer’s World Cup, the Canadian women’s national soccer team is back in action on September 3 for the first of two matches against World Cup hosts Australia.
Canada are coming off the Concacaf W Championship, where they finished second place to the United States, and officially qualified for next year’s tournament down under.
There are two newcomers to the Canada squad. One is youngster Simi Awujo, who plays for the University of Southern California, and recently competed at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. The other is Clarissa Larisey, who has been lighting it up for Celtic in the Scottish Women's Premier League.
The usual cast of characters will be there for Canada, including Christine Sinclair, Jessie Fleming, Kailen Sheridan and Janine Beckie. It’s a pretty unsurprising squad from Bev Priestman in goal, in attack and in midfield, but the defence will be something to keep an eye on. Vanessa Gilles, Ashley Lawrence, Allysha Chapman, Kadeisha Buchanan and Jayde Riviere will all be absent, as will attacker Deanne Rose.
Australia will counter with the country’s record goalscorer and Chelsea star Sam Kerr, Arsenal duo Caitlin Foord and Steph Catley and San Diego Wave’s Emily van Egmond, among others.
Both matches against the Matildas will take place in state-of-the-art 2023 World Cup venues, including the new Sydney Football Stadium, which was only opened at the end of August.
The first match will take place on September 3 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane — a legendary century-old rugby league stadium that has also been used for rugby union and soccer. It’s hosted matches at several Rugby League World Cups, as well as the 2003 men’s Rugby World Cup, men’s 2015 AFC Asian Cup, and 2021 NRL Grand Final, among other high-profile events.
After that match, Canada will head a few hours south along the coast to Sydney, where they will take on Australia again at the new Sydney Football Stadium. Only opened at the end of August after a couple of years of being built to replace the former stadium of the same name, Sydney Football Stadium is one of the premier venues now in the city, and Canada will play in one of the first-ever matches there.
The stadium will be used for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, 2027 Rugby World Cup and 2032 Summer Olympics, among other events in the years to come, and will also be the new home of A-League soccer team Sydney FC, Sydney Roosters of the NRL, and New South Wales Waratahs of Super Rugby.
These matches will be available to watch on OneSoccer.
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