Female football player from Ponoka celebrating national championship

Jul 11, 2022 | 12:04 PM

A Ponoka youth is among the province’s first female tackle football players celebrating a national title over the weekend.

Emily McMillan was part of Team Alberta who won the U18 Women’s National Championship held in Regina from July 1-9.

Officials with Football Alberta say 2022 marks the first year a tackle football national championship for Women’s Provincial Teams was held at the U18 level.

The event drew in teams from New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan. During the mini-game round robin, Alberta went 3-1, dropping its last contest 14-12 to host Saskatchewan. This was enough, however, to earn them a rematch in the Gold Medal game against the host province on July 9 at Mosaic Stadium in Regina.

The game was not as tight as the first contest as the visitors scored early and often en-route to a 36-12 win securing the first ever National Championships at the U18 Women’s level for Alberta.

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McMillan from Ponoka, Sidani Bowers from Okotoks, plus Liberty Jo-Ware and Mackenzie Morrell both from Wetaskiwin, recorded the TD’s for Team Alberta, but a true team effort was the secret to the team’s success and all players should be congratulated on the victory, says Football Alberta.

Officials say this marks a definitive step forward in the sport and a nice validation for all of the hard work put into the development of the women’s tackle game, especially by the Capital District Minor Football Association, who has been running a tackle league for women of that age since 2019.

It is also said to continue Alberta’s tradition of trailblazing, as almost exactly 27 years ago, the boys version of Team Alberta U18 won the first Football Canada Cup on July 15, 1995 with a 10-6 win over Quebec, also beating the home team as the game was played in Montreal.

The Team Alberta U18 Women’s team’s victory is described as a proud moment for the game and the progress made to bring the game to everyone.

by rdnewsNOW Staff

Female football player from Ponoka celebrating national championship

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