TORONTO (U Sports) – U Sports announced Friday the coaching staff that will lead Canada in women’s soccer at the 2017 Summer Universiade in Chinese Taipei. 

The 29^th world university summer games are set for August 19 to 30 in Taipei City. 

Peyvand Mossavat from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology has been appointed head coach of the red and white squad and will be joined on the sidelines by assistant coach Jose-Luis Valdes from McGill University. A team leader and therapist will be announced at a later date. 

Mossavat, in his fifth season at the helm of UOIT’s women’s program after previous stops at Ryerson at York, led the No.3 Ridgebacks to the best record in program history and the team’s first OUA east regular season title in 2016. Over the years, he has guided numerous Ontario provincial teams and has been an assistant coach with the women’s National Training Centre. 

A remarkable player in his own right, Mossavat is a former member of the Canadian Olympic program and himself competed at the FISU Games in 1993 in Buffalo. At the professional level, he was a five-time all-star in the Canadian Soccer League.   

“I’m honoured to be part of the next coaching staff and lead the Canadian women’s soccer team into the next world university games in 2017,” said Mossavat, who was named U Sports coach of the year in 2014, after leading the Ridgebacks to the program’s first appearance at the national championship. “We had an incredible group of athletes and coaches in 2015 which lead into our great success at the Games. I’m excited about this opportunity and hope to be able to create a memorable experience for our Canadian student-athletes and raise the profile of U Sports soccer at the international level.” 

At the 2015 Summer Universiade in Gwangju, South Korea, the Canadian women finished in fourth place out of 15 teams – their highest finish in history – conceding the bronze medal game to Japan. 

The all-U Sports Canadian roster for the Taipei City Games will be announced at a later date.

CANADA’S WOMEN’S SOCCER STAFF FOR 2015 UNIVERSIADE:

Head coach: Peyvand Mossavat (University of Ontario Institute of Technology - UOIT)

Assistant coach: Jose-Luis Valdes (McGill University)

CANADA’S ALL-TIME UNIVERSIADE RESULTS IN WOMEN’SSOCCER: 

2015 (Gwangju, South Korea): 4^th / 15 teams

2013 (Kazan, Russia): 10^th / 12

2011 (Shenzhen, China): 5^th / 12

2009 (Belgrade, Serbia): 7^th / 16

2007 (Bangkok, Thailand): 10^th / 16

2005 (Izmir, Turkey): 5^th / 12

2003 (Daegu, South Korea): 10^th / 12

2001 (Beijing, China): 11^th / 12

1993 (Buffalo, USA): 5^th / 6

Women’s soccer made its Universiade debut as a demonstration sport at the 1993 Buffalo Games, when the tournament was held in Hamilton, Ont. The sport returned as an official Universiade discipline in 2001.

About the 2017 Summer Universiade 

The Universiade is an international multi-sport competition that takes place every two years. The event, which is second only to the Olympics in number of participating athletes and countries, is open to competitors between the ages of 17 and 28 in the year of the games who are full-time students at a post-secondary institution (university, college, CEGEP) or have graduated from a post-secondary institution in the year preceding the games. 

The 2017 Summer Universiade will feature 14 compulsory sports and seven optional sports. Compulsory sports: athletics, basketball, fencing, football (soccer), artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, swimming, diving, water polo, tennis, volleyball, judo, table tennis and taekwondo. Optional sports: archery, badminton, baseball, golf, roller sports, weightlifting and wushu. 

Official website: http://www.taipei2017.com.tw/    

About U Sports 

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-U Sports-