What began as something to do with friends has blossomed into an Olympic dream for Sara Parker.
Parker first picked up a football at age 13 when she decided to try out for her school's flag team. She began the sport because it was played in spring — after the ringette, field hockey and basketball seasons — and was something new she and her friends could do.
Thirteen years later, Parker, of Montreal, is a member of the national women's program that's on the cusp of qualifying for the 2028 Los Angeles Games, where flag football will make its Olympic debut.
"I had no clue what flag football was, I didn't come from a football family," Parker said. "My mom was a softball player so we'd throw the ball in front of the house and she's the one who taught me how to throw a football.
"Honestly, throughout my entire career I've been able to see the sport grow and grow with it. It's amazing where flag football has taken me … it's been a dream really."
In August, Canada will compete at the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) world championship in Germany. The top-two teams will qualify for the L.A. Games but if the United States reaches the final, the top three will advance as the Americans already have an Olympic spot as host.
Canada qualified for the world event by reaching last year's IFAF Americas Continental championship in Panama, dropping a 12-0 decision to Mexico in a contest halted in the first half by severe weather. That followed a historic bronze medal at the '25 World Games in China, Canada's first-ever international women's flag football hardware.
Parker has been Canada's starting quarterback since 2024 and is currently competing for the No. 1 job with Elisabeth Ashkar. Both played in the ºÃÉ«tv team's recent 34-33 win over the U.S. as Parker finished 19-of-25 passing for 164 yards and three touchdowns while Ashkar completed 13-of-19 passes for 109 yards and two TDs.
The ºÃÉ«tv team travels to China this weekend for a series of practices and exhibition games with the Chinese squad and Australia. Canada's final 12-player roster for the world championship will be set later this summer.
Parker has embarked upon a long, often winding football journey. That's because in high school, CEGEP and at Concordia University, Parker has started programs from scratch and handled much of their day-to-day operations (serving in such capacities as president, general manager, equipment manager, athletic therapist and even uniform designer with her mother) in addition to playing.
In 2025, Parker's efforts to start a flag program at Champlain College Saint Lambert earned her induction into the school's Hall of Fame. The team went unbeaten in its first year, gaining promotion from the fourth division to the top tier.
When Parker enrolled at Concordia in 2020, Canada was in lockdown due to the global pandemic. But Parker used the time to get the wheels in motion for a Quebec-based university flag football league that began in 2021.
Starting in 2027, women's flag football will be a pilot sport in U Sports.
"Sara is a pioneer in many, many ways," said Rachel Lessard, head coach of Canada's national women's team. "Her work ethic is impeccable."
Especially when Parker feels she has something to prove.
"Last year, we didn't bring Sara to L.A. (for national team camp)," Lessard said. "We took another quarterback we felt was more in position to help us win.
"But we created a beast because Sara challenged my OC and wanted to understand. After every practice she wanted to know what she could do to get better."
Parker hasn't rested on her laurels. She works with Myles Gibbon, founder/head coach of The QB Movement, which trains and develops quarterbacks in Toronto and Montreal.
"Many factors go into playing quarterback, not just reading defences," Parker said. "Especially in flag football where we have a blitzer who has a straight line to the quarterback so we have maybe a second and a half to make our read and deliver the ball.
"So it becomes super important to be able to put our body into a position that allows us to make very precise throws in very tight windows. It's very important to be able to put all of the factors together."
Parker said it's only fitting that, in football, she's the quarterback.
"It was more my nature as an athlete to be the playmaker," she said. "When I was a ringette player I had a lot of points but more from assists.
"Same with basketball, I had a lot of assists. It just came naturally being able to be a bit more strategic and see everyone on the field."
This report by ºÃÉ«tvwas first published June 29, 2026.
