When Maxym Lavallée was drafted by the Montreal Alouettes in 2023, he would not have believed you if you told him he could be an Olympian within five years.
“It’s so crazy. Like, in the football world, we never thought we would able to be an Olympian at all because it was not in the Olympics at all,” the 27-year-old from Gatineau, Que., said. “But now being part of this, it’s like, ‘Oh s—, I could be an Olympian,’ and all the memories I had watching the Olympics, like, now I can be a part of this majestic event.”
Lavallée now plays for Canada’s men’s flag football team, with aspirations of helping the squad compete at Los Angeles 2028, when the sport will make its Olympic debut.
A two-time attendee of Alouettes training camp, he did not make the roster in either instance and never stepped foot on a CFL field. He thought that spelled the end of his football career, and after 20 years steeped in the violence of tackle football — he once played 38 games in a six-month stretch — he was at peace with the end of his journey.
“My approach, my training was not focused on me being a better football player to play at that kind of level,” Lavallée said. “So I didn’t change something — I changed everything. I’m kind of a freak on that part.”
Then, pal Anthony Auclair — a former NFL tight end — came calling.
Flag football is a sport on the rise, in part because of its inclusion at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Some CFL players are helping children learn the ins and outs of the game.
Lavallée had played on Auclair’s flag football team at Laval University in the year prior to his second training-camp stint, his first taste of the sport. The ex-NFLer saw something in Lavallée — and he thought Team Canada might, too.
“Auclair said, ‘I signed you up for Team Canada’s ID camp. You should try it.’ And I was like ‘Ah, I could, I don’t know.’ And (eventually) I was like ‘f— off, I’ll do it.’ And I did the ID camp and I’ve been playing flag ever since,” Lavallée said.
Now, Lavallée is among the leaders of head coach Paul LaPolice’s national team, whose next big event is the world championships Aug. 13-16 in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Only six teams in each of men’s and women’s flag football will qualify for the 2028 Olympics, and one spot in both is already taken up by the host United States. Two more countries in both disciplines will qualify via world rankings at the end of August, making the world championships a critical inflection point. Otherwise, qualification would have to wait until spring 2028, just months before the opening ceremony.
The Canadian women rank fourth worldwide, while the men sit 10th. Both teams reached the podium at least year’s Americas championship, with the women taking silver and the men earning their first medal, a bronze.
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Speaking from a training camp in Chula Vista, Calif., in early March, Lavallée said he has made it his mission to push the sport forward across Canada.
“Flag has been growing so much, especially for the women, and it’s pretty exciting to see how the women here at camp are living a dream come true. And we’re all floating on that vibe that flag is growing so much and we’re part of it,” he said.
To that end, Lavallée is helping to develop a girls’ volleyball and flag football program at a local high school, coaching defensive backs and special teams at the CEGEP level. He has also started his own company where he provides individualized coaching for high-school and CEGEP players.
All of that has come to be within the last 10 months, he said.
“I love providing help, transmitting my passion to the young people out there that want more, that wants people to develop [them]. And I also love helping the human behind the athlete, so with my own company, I can pretty much do what I want, so I love being able to help these young kids,” he said.
It is no wonder, then, that LaPolice — a former CFL head coach with the Ottawa Redblacks and Winnipeg Blue Bombers — views Lavallée as a key part of his program.
“Good football player. Smart, intelligent, then just a really good professional, if that makes sense. Somebody who doesn’t miss practice, takes care of his body. He’s ready to work each day, can play multiple spots and is a really good leader, like one of the leaders of our team,” LaPolice said.
Still, Lavallée, a defensive back, will have to continue earning his spot on a team that will include just 12 active starters, plus several more backups. The roster for worlds will be set at a training camp at the beginning of May, with open tryouts giving LaPolice and his staff the opportunity to view talent from across the country.
Having been on the job for a little less than a year, the pure size of Canada has provided one of the biggest challenges for LaPolice in terms of both practice and evaluation. The California camp, at seven days, was the longest the team has ever been together, he said.
No matter: he said he expects to return from Germany in August with a medal.
After all, the reality of the Olympics is just starting to hit.
“I think a couple of weeks ago, the gravity of the situation became a little bit more real,” LaPolice said.
Lavallée feels it too. He watched the Milano-Cortina Olympics, with particular interest in hockey and moguls.
He’s also witnessed what it takes to become an Olympian up close, crossing paths at Laval with Paris 2024 sprinter Audrey Leduc, who just so happens to also be from Gatineau.
And he knows nothing is guaranteed.
“I’m pretty confident in myself, but I need to prove it every single day. I’ve been working hard pretty much all my life to be at the level I’m at now,” he said.
“I know where I want to go. I know what it takes to be an Olympic flag football player, so I’m working on it a lot to make sure I am one of the 12.”
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