Photo Credit: Canadian Paralympic Committee
The St. Thomas native Emma Reinke is suiting up once again for Canada’s women’s goalball team, heading into a packed week of international competition in São Paulo, Brazil, from July 29 to August 5 at the 2025 IBSA Goalball Americas Championships.
And the stakes are high as the top finishers at the tournament will qualify for the 2026 IBSA Goalball World Championships- set for June 6-16, 2026 in Hangzhou, China.
Reinke will continue to play a crucial role in Canada’s offensive lineup, following the retirement last season of four-time Paralympian Whitney Bogart of Marathon, Ont. and Brieann Baldock of Edmonton, a member of the 2020 and 2024 Paralympic teams.
They are replaced in Sao Paulo by 17-year-old Cassandra Ruttle of Calgary and Geneviève Hart-Baron of Ottawa. They join Reinke, five-time Paralympian Amy Burk of Charlottetown, Maryam Salehizadeh of Vancouver and Meghan Mahon of Calgary.
Their pool includes Nicaragua, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, and Guatemala, with each team vying for a spot in the playoff round.
Canada opens the tournament on Tuesday, July 29 at 10:20 a.m. (ET) against Nicaragua, followed by two matches on Wednesday.
If they advance, the playoffs begin August 2 with quarterfinal action. The other pool is comprised of USA, Panama, Brazil, Chile and Peru.
The full Pool A schedule can be found below…
Women’s Team Canada Schedule (Pool A)
Day 1 – July 29
10:20 a.m. vs Nicaragua (NCA)
Day 2 – July 30
8 a.m. vs Argentina (ARG)
3 p.m. vs Mexico (MEX)
Day 3 – July 31
11:30 p.m. vs Venezuela (VEN)
Day 4 – August 1
11:20 a.m. vs Guatemala (GUA)
Written by: Kennedy Freeman
