Ten returnees on a flag football roster of 16 is nothing to sneeze at.

Still, the Laurentian Voyageurs are not without change, notably at arguably the most important position on the field as graduating quarterback Addison Elliott gives way to incoming freshman Ella O'Shaughnessy.

And this is hardly the only area of change.

After spending her rookie season on the offensive side of the ball (just like her father), Maddyn St Amour is dealing with a whole new view of the game as her team prepares for their first tournament of the year in Ottawa in early October.

"I tried defense the past couple of tournaments and found it to be a lot more fun," said St Amour, a graduate of Lockerby Composite entering her second year of Kinesiology studies this fall.

"I was never a super aggressive person so that's something I've had to flip on when I am playing on defense."

While the bulk of the L.U. roster is built largely around young women who have progressed through the SDSSAA ranks in high-school, St Amour suggested that there are countless adaptations that need to be made as one moves from the full-sized seven v seven game of Sudbury flag football to the five on five university game in much tighter quarters.

"In high-school, if you just gave it to your fastest person, they could get to the outside almost every time," said St Amour. "There wasn't that much strategy. In five v five, there is a lot of strategy."

"Trying to get the ball to different players is a lot more useful than it was with seven v seven."

Joining St Amour in the group of players who will bring OWIFA experience to the fall season are co-captains Chloe Rinaldi and two-time second team all-star Kelly Clark as well as Mya Farmer, Zoe Rienguette, Brooke Campeau, Tara Guse, Mya Massamiliano, Ava Massamiliano and Kaylee Vaillancourt.

Along with QB O'Shaughnessy, newcomers include fellow recruits Maddie Veevers, Tiia Peura and Addison Gibbs and walk-ons Julia Pagnutti and Bella Massimiliano. Joining head coach Brett Walter on the team staff are assistant coaches Véronique St-Jean and Jeff Ruff and team president Lance Patrie.

"We have a really new team and our offense is going to be really young," summarized St Amour. "Helping our offense glue together should be our main goal."