Chenevert, Canada have Olympics 'in the back of our mind' amid flag worlds prep

Team Canada Emile Chenevert (37) warms up during Canada flag football selection camp action in Winnipeg, Friday, May 1, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

WINNIPEG — Emile Chenevert hopes to wear an Olympic medal around his neck in two years instead of a stethoscope.

A family doctor in Quebec City, Chenevert is attending the Canadian men’s flag football selection camp this weekend at Princess Auto Stadium.

The camp is one of two this year that will be used to choose the squad that competes at the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) world championship in Germany in mid-August.

The top two teams in Dusseldorf will earn berths to the 2028 Los Angeles Games, where men’s and women’s flag football will make its Olympic debut.

“That would be surreal,” Chenevert said of claiming an Olympic medal. “We don’t talk about it too much. We’re really focused on the next practice, on the next camp.

“But we do have this in the back of our mind and it keeps us really motivated and really accountable.”

The six-foot-two defensive back wasn’t one of the 28 players practising with the team because he’s recovering from a foot sprain he suffered in late January while playing a flag game in Quebec City.

It’s almost healed, but doctor knows best so he’s only taking part in meetings and watching practice.

“I want to be with the team. I’m a team-player guy,” Chenevert, 29, said. “If we were playing the worlds right now, I could be playing. It’s more preventive for me not to participate in the camp.”

National team head coach Paul LaPolice was happy to have the former Laval University player at camp, noting Chenevert was a starter on last year’s 12-man national flag team that won a bronze at the IFAF Americas Continental Championship in Panama.

“He’s one of our best players,” LaPolice said. “He’s big, physical, fast, got a lot of range. You want your DBs to have range to be able to knock footballs down, so he does it.”

LaPolice also pointed out the doctor’s maturity and leadership qualities.

In his fourth year at Laval in 2019, Chenevert was doing a full-time internship at hospitals while playing for the Rouge et Or. He’d finish at 5 p.m. and race to practice.

The COVID-19 pandemic cancelled football in 2020 so Chenevert focused on his medical degree.

Now in his third year as a physician, he works full-time at a clinic and also attends long-term care facilities in Quebec City.

His outlet is flag football, which he began playing in 2020.

“I’m a defensive back, so the part of the game I like is the passes and the defending,” he said. “Flag is simply this, minus the contact, so I love it better.”

Flag football has five players per side on a 70-yard by 25-yard field. There’s no blocking or contact allowed and the game moves quickly.

A new national team is chosen each year. Up to 20 players will be picked to attend a June selection camp in California, where 12 will make up the roster for the tournament in Germany.

Receiver Daniel Petermann is aiming to be among the lucky dozen.

One of a number of camp participants with CFL experience, Petermann played 75 games over five seasons with Winnipeg (2018-19), Ottawa (’21) and the B.C. Lions (’22-23).

The Stoney Creek, Ont., native is a personal trainer in Burlington and coaches tackle football at Hamilton’s Cathedral High School.

A standout receiver at McMaster University, Petermann began playing flag football in Grade 4. After his CFL career, he took up touch football.

Now the 30-year-old is aiming to make the national flag team after he was asked last year to try out by LaPolice, who was his offensive co-ordinator with the Blue Bombers and his head coach with the Redblacks.

“He called me and I said, ‘Why not?’ I’m in shape,” Petermann said, adding an Olympic experience was an incentive.

He hasn’t played a game yet, but he’s impressed with the skill level, especially when it comes to avoiding having your flag grabbed by an opponent.

“It’s crazy to watch some of those (Quebec) guys, they can get low. It’s nuts,” Petermann said.

“I’ve got to add that to my repertoire. I can do it, I’ve just got to do it in my head. I’m not used to doing that, I’m used to just trying to make a cut.”

LaPolice expects his team will be competitive. It turned heads last year by defeating the United States in a game at the International Bowl. It was the Americans’ first loss in eight years.

If the U.S. reaches the final in Germany, the top-three teams will secure Olympic berths because the Americans get one spot as host. Other berths will be available through the 2027 IFAF continental championship and a final Olympic qualifier series in 2028.

Judy Owen, The Canadian Press