Watch above: The Regina Riot women’s football team prepares to take on the Saskatoon Valkyries on the May long weekend. Kyle Galliver reports.
REGINA – The Saskatoon Valkyries are a tough team to beat in the Western Women’s Canadian Football League (WWCFL). The only defeat in their history was to the Regina Riot in 2013.
The four-time WWCFL champions Valkyries will be in Regina this weekend to take on the Riot, a team that gains confidence every time they take to the field.
“Football Saskatchewan classifies us as an elite team, so that’s basically been part of our whole vision is trying to get the girls to understand what an elite program does, how we practice, how we play, what it takes to be classed as an elite program,” said Shawn McCall, Riot’s head coach.
McCall and his staff have been hammering home this sentiment since the Riot started practicing in January.
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Most of the players didn’t play minor football growing up, so there’s a learning curve at the start of the year.
“You got to take from no knowledge, just being athletes, to giving them the knowledge so they can go out there, they know when to be on the field, they know where to stand, they know what to do, so that’s a huge thing,” said McCall.
“We did certainly have a number of girls that came back that do understand football but again we’re trying to give them more experience all the time.”
Regina started out the regular season with a 47-0 win against the Manitoba Fearless last week.
Competition will get heated this weekend as the Riot welcome their provincial rival to Mosaic Stadium. The Valkyries also won their first game of the season, 75-0, against the Winnipeg Wolfpack.
“It’s going to be without question a challenge but with the improvement of our girls, with the dedication they’ve shown by watching video and everything else that goes with being in an elite program, we really feel we’re going to be very competitive with them,” said McCall.
Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Kyle Galliver contributed to this story
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