The Regina Riot’s 53-6 Western Women’s Canadian Football League (WWCFL) championship win over the Edmonton Storm July 4 at Winnipeg’s Investors Group Field was the icing on the cake after their first victory of making it to the final game in the first place.
One week earlier, on June 28 at Regina’s Mosaic Stadium, the Riot (3-1 during the 2015 regular season) played in the Prairie Conference championship game against their arch-rival Saskatoon Valkyries (3-1), a team that has won every WWCFL title since the women’s full-tackle league began in 2011. Regina had beaten the Valkyries twice during that time with their latest victory coming this season in a 49-9 win.
No other WWCFL team has ever beat the Valkyries.
“We have always been considered the underdogs and always have that pressure of knowing how good a team the Valkyries are,” said Amery Deren, 29, a Riot defensive lineman from Lampman. “We kind of compared it to a wall this year. The Valkyries are always our wall. We get to the same point every year and we can’t get past that wall. This year we were able to push right through it and continue on and win the championship.”
Deren, who played for the Valkyries for a year before joining the Riot in the 2014 season, said beating Saskatoon and winning the title was a “complete effort” from everyone on the team including the coaching staff. She said playing through a leg injury that forced her to wear a medical boot between games, while continually pumping up her team as an on-field leader, defined her effort as a starter and veteran for the Riot this post-season.
“When I get on the field I don’t really pay attention to my injuries,” she said. “I’m able to focus on the game and push through them just for the love of the sport and knowing this year was a real good opportunity for us to win the championship. Actually, beating the Valkyries helped motivate me to push through and work through injury.”
Estevan’s Ariel Blondeau, 24, who plays defensive back for the Riot, said the championship win was a “humbling experience” for the team because it finally showed them the work they and the coaching staff put in is worth it. She said the goal now is to help build the women’s game as they enter the next season trying to defend their title.
“I want to see how far this team will go, because I really feel that the Regina Riot is the number one team in the league,” said Blondeau. “This is our first championship, and I’m looking forward to having the title defence because you just want more.”
Deren said playing football has always been something she wanted to do, but growing up in rural Saskatchewan made that a problem. She said the continued success of the Riot and the WWCFL will hopefully make football in this province more accessible for girls looking to take up the sport.
My hope is the league “continues to promote women in football and get fans out and see what women in football is all about, what the WWCFL is all about and see that filter down to our minor leagues and have more girls participate,” said Deren.
