Tournament packages are now on sale for the 2012 CONCACAF Womens Olympic qualifying tournament set for January in Vancouver. Individual game tickets go on sale in October following the official draw.
Staged over 10 days at B.C. Place from Jan. 19 to 29, the Canadian team is a favourite to qualify and will be under the guidance of a new coach, John Herdman, who was appointed Sept. 1. Carolina Morace resigned from the head coaching role after the national team failed to advance past the first round of the World Cup in Germany this summer.
Eight teams will vie for the regions two berths to the 2012 London Summer Games. CONCACAF competition includes Canada, the 2011 World Cup finalist U.S.A., Mexico, three teams from the Caribbean and two teams from central Latin America.
January will mark the third CONCACAF womens Olympic qualifying tournament, held every four years since 2004.
In 2008, the Canadian team went undefeated before finishing in second place behind CONCACAF champion U.S.A., falling in the championship final on penalty kicks. Canada advanced to the womens Olympic soccer tournament in Beijing and reached the quarter-finals. Once again, Canadas nemesis was the American team. The Canadians came within an extra-time goal of knocking off the eventual Olympic champions, but settled for an eighth-place finish.
In the most recent CONCACAF championship in November 2010, Canada was crowned the continental champion. Following the Canadians, the top teams were Mexico, the U.S.A. and Costa Rica.
Canada and Mexico have each qualified for the Olympic Games once while the U.S.A has qualified all four times, winning three gold and one silver Olympic medal.
All tournament packages will be available in three price categories set at $69, $95 and $125 and include six doubleheaders between Jan. 19 to 24, one semi-final doubleheader on Jan. 27) and the final on Jan. 29.
Tournament packages as well as group and family packages are available through Ticketmaster at 855-985-5000 or ticketmaster.ca.
