Bringing a breadth of athletic achievement, Rose Amelie Brunet is blossoming into an integral component of the future for the Montreal Blitz. With the club having relocated to the Women’s Football Alliance (WFA) in 2017, it introduced the prodigious Brunet to a remarkable spectrum of gridiron talent, which would foreshadow the experiences to come following the close of the season.
Boasting an athletic resume that features a background in both soccer and flag football, having starred with the Broncos of the Baie-Saint-François school, plus the Noir et Or of Le College de Valleyfield. In flag football, she won Player of the Year honours and gained All-Star Status for Valleyfield in 2015 along with Gabrielle Fortin. As a side note, her brother Alexander is a former defender with the McGill Redmen.
Perhaps the most unique element of her supple presence involves the fact that she has also served as a lifeguard for five years. Such physical aptitude allowed for a smooth transition to the gridiron, helping contribute to the club’s legacy as home to some of the world’s finest female footballers.
Brunet all smiles in the Blitz colours (Image obtained from: http://www.wfaprofootball.com/team-canada/rose-amelie-brunet/)
Gaining the chance to excel in Blitz colours, where she also pulls double duty as the backup quarterback to starter Maude Lacasse, it has represented a very enriching experience for Brunet, encompassing an overall love of sport. Statistically, the 2016 season, which represented the last for the Blitz during their halcyon days in the IWFL, resulted in Brunet assembling some respectable numbers. Catching 12 passes for 177 receiving yards and one touchdown, she also tossed a 54-yard touchdown pass. She was also effective on special teams, with five returns for 117 yards and a touchdown.
Sharing in this illuminating time is Brunet’s girlfriend, Juliette Legault, who also competes for the Blitz. With the number 27 adorned on her jersey, Legault competes at the running back position. During the 2017 season, she would come into her own as a key contributor to the running game. Ranking third in rushing, trailing only Lacasse and team leader Laurence Thivierge, she would average 7.8 yards per carry, while her longest run of the season was a fantastic 45 yards. As a side note, she would also log a receiving touchdown on a 32-yard pass.
Earning a spot on Canada’s entry at the 2017 IFAF Women’s Worlds, it signified the next step in the evolution of Brunet becoming a world-class athlete. Originally named to Team Canada as a reserve, the discovery that has been called up to the active roster, the feelings of euphoria and blissful joy were the exclamation mark on her youthful exuberance,
“The most beautiful reaction ever, it was the realization of a dream come true!”
Among the club teams who stocked Team Canada with competitors, the Blitz, who are especially rich in receivers, supplied seven players for the Canadian offense. Headlined by Laurence Pontbriand, one of Canada’s leading receivers in Vancouver, it set a standard for Brunet to emulate. As a side note, both star receivers also saw time on defense with the Blitz during the 2017 WFA season, with Brunet logging an interception.
Just as important was the positive influence from another talented Blitz receiver. Taking into account that Annabelle Chevrier was injured, she still made the trip to Vancouver. Providing moral support and encouraging the team, including ten members of the Blitz adorned in Canada’s colours, it was the type of example that demonstrated the essence of leadership. A full-time student when not donning the helmet and pads, Chevrier’s dedication was part of the invaluable learning experiences that Brunet acquired in 2017.
While Vancouver supplied Brunet with a remarkable amount of memories, aspects that shall be fondly ruminated upon in the years to follow, the highlight of this rich narrative served simultaneously as prologue. Of note, Brunet reveals that the most meaningful and treasured experience took place before the opening kickoff.
Reminiscences of training camp serve as the source of Brunet’s highlights with Team Canada 2017. For Brunet, the experience was one where the feeling of team bonding that developed throughout the tournament had its roots. Where players enter camp among a gathering of new faces, perhaps uncertain and daunted, yet emerging in the outcome as friends, sharing an experience that only another player can fully comprehend, these elements are the foundation for the camaraderie that serves as the game’s backbone. For Brunet, the beginning of this journey was the most important, helping to set the positive tone for the events that followed.
“My favorite experience was the training camp, we were all together, the new encounters I made and especially the team spirit between the girls!”
“All quotes obtained first hand unless otherwise indicated”
NOTE: As this interview was conducted in French, please find the original quotes before translation:
“La plus belle réaction jamais ressenti, il s’agit d’un rêve qui venait de se réalisé!”
“Oui, j’étais extrêmement fière de me retrouvé sur cette équipe avec elles! Elles sont talentueuses et c’est toujours agréable d’être avec elles.”
“Il s’agissait de moment très spécial mais je crois que mm s’il n’aurait pas été question du Canada150 j’aurais été aussi fière de le porter.”
“Mon expérience préféré a été le camp d’entraînement en sont ensemble, les nouvelles rencontres que j’ai fais et surtout l’esprit d’équipe entre les filles!”
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