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Team Canada foosball player Zoe LaBelle is off to Hamburg, Germany, to play table soccer at the international level.

The 24-year-old started playing four years ago when she got a job in the bar – Time Out Pub – that serves as the headquarters for the Edmonton Foosball League.

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“I really thought it was weird seeing all those people playing foosball together like that, so serious,” she recalled.

When she went with her boyfriend, Will Stranks, to the world tournament in 2012, she was intrigued and thought about one day joining the team. So she started practising.

She now plays on Tornado, Fireball and Bonzini tables. Bonzini “men” are made of metal with no weight in their head, which makes it tougher to keep the men upright, whereas Tornado men can stay upside down easier, LaBelle said.

“It’s a real mind game to me,” she said. “If you show somebody that you’re stressed out about it, or that they’re getting into your head, they’ll start to win.”