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The Central Canadian Women's Football League (CCWFL) is a full-contact Canadian football league supported by Football Quebec and Football Ontario.[1]

Originally founded in 2014, the league played its first season in 2022.[2][3][4] It thus became the third cross-province league for women's football in Canada, alongside the Western Women's Canadian Football League and the Maritime Women's Football League.[5]

In French, the league is named the Ligue centrale canadienne de football féminin (LCCFF).[4]

History

[edit]

The Central Canadian league was first formed in 2014, intending to play a 2015 season. Football Canada made the announcement in April 2014 of an over-18s' women's tackle football league.[6][7] Its official launch in July was attended by the premier of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne,[8] and members of the Toronto Argonauts gave continuing support to the players.[8][9] Aaron Ellis had founded the project so that his daughter Tianna could continue to play football after high school.[10] Teams would have been based in Mississauga, Hamilton, Scarborough and York Region.[8] However, the planned league did not materialize in 2015 due to lack of registered players.[11]

The Montreal Blitz had been established in 2001[1] and won the American Independent Women's Football League championship in 2012.[12][13] The Ottawa Capital Rebels were founded in early 2020.[5][14]

The Blitz and Rebels were co-founders of the CCWFL when it announced its re-formation in 2021. The Ottawa team's co-founder Sonia Rodi, a football coach and former rugby player, said, "When I go to these [coaching] clinics, I’m always the only female", and made an effort to find female coaches. She wanted the team to inspire girls who play football and are excluded: "It’s easier for men because it’s a sport for them. But for women, we just have to work harder for everything."[1]

The league's first game was the Montreal Blitz versus the Quebec City Phoenix on May 14, 2022, at Stade Hébert, a 25–0 win for the Blitz,[15] who were undefeated by the end of the season on June 25. The Montreal team is coached by former quarterback Saadia Ashraf.[16] The Phoenix de Québec, from Quebec City, were newly founded in 2022.[2] Ottawa played its 2022 home games at Matt Anthony Field, University of Ottawa.[3][17] Because some team rosters were undersized, the 2022 games were played as 9-versus-9 players.[17][4]

The CCWFL commissioner is Andréanne Dupont-Parent, the Montreal Blitz's general manager and a former player for Canada in the 2010 World Championship.[18] Male CFL players who have been involved in training the CCWFL's players include Eddie Brown, Antoine Pruneau, and Samuel Thomassin.[14] Ten CCWFL players were selected for the primary Canada team roster at the American football 2022 World Championship.[19]

The 2023 league had only two clubs, the Montreal Blitz and York Region Football Association (playing its home games at St. Maximillian Kolbe High School in Aurora, Ontario). They played four regular-season games, all won by the Blitz.[20] In December 2023, the Ottawa Capital Rebels became the women's football section of the Gatineau Valkries.[21] In 2023 in Quebec, a related football league for girls aged 15–17 was founded, the LFFMQ,[22][23] playing its first season in 2024.[24][23]

In 2024, the CCWFL added a team in Trois-Rivières, the Trois-Rivières Battle Angels;[25] the league had targeted that city for expansion since 2022.[4] The league also aims to expand to include teams in Toronto[4] and (as of 2022) elsewhere in Quebec and Ontario within five years.[3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "Organizers see world of opportunity w/ women's league". CFL. June 21, 2021. Archived from the original on June 22, 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Women's tackle football returns to Quebec, and they're looking for players". CBC News. March 1, 2022. Archived from the original on July 8, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "New Canadian women's tackle football league comes to the nation's capital". CityNews. Archived from the original on May 15, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Une première saison dans les livres pour les Capital Rebels d'Ottawa". Radio-Canada. June 19, 2022. Archived from the original on July 8, 2022.
  5. ^ a b "'There will be bruises': Capital Rebels tackle male-dominated world of full-contact football". CBC News. February 15, 2020. Archived from the original on July 8, 2022.
  6. ^ "CCWFL Official Launch". Football Canada. Apr 9, 2014. Archived from the original on Oct 8, 2015. "CCWFL – Lancement officiel". Football Canada. Apr 9, 2014. Archived from the original on Mar 28, 2017.
  7. ^ "CCWFL Press Release 4-09-2014" (PDF). Football Canada. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 21, 2022.
  8. ^ a b c "Women's football league launched". King Weekly Sentinel. July 2, 2014. Archived from the original on May 21, 2022.
  9. ^ "Women, football and Argos". The Chronicle. Durham College. Oct 30, 2014. Archived from the original on July 9, 2022.
  10. ^ McKnight, Zoe (July 26, 2014). "GTA dad-daughter bond behind women's football league". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on Jul 30, 2014.
  11. ^ Staffieri, Mark (June 14, 2015). "CCWFL deserves an A for Effort". Fourth and Feminine. Archived from the original on August 7, 2017.
  12. ^ "Le Blitz de Montréal remporte le Championnat Mondial de l'IWFL". Football Québec. Archived from the original on Feb 25, 2017.
  13. ^ "Montreal Blitz are the 2012 IWFL World Champions!". IWFL Sports. Archived from the original on March 8, 2013.
  14. ^ a b "Une ligue féminine de football en Ontario et au Québec dès 2022". Le Droit. Aug 21, 2021. Archived from the original on Jul 8, 2022.
  15. ^ "Montreal Blitz". Facebook. May 12, 2022. Le premier match contre le Phoenix
    "Montreal Blitz". Facebook. May 15, 2022. une victoire de 25-0 contre le Phoenix
  16. ^ "Landry: Saadia Ashraf is a true builder of the game". CFL. 8 March 2022. Archived from the original on March 8, 2022.
  17. ^ a b "It's a hit! Canadian girls and women crushing stereotypes by playing tackle football". Ottawa Sun. Archived from the original on May 8, 2022.
  18. ^ "Dupont-Parent aims to build through Als' experience". CFL. 2 June 2022. Archived from the original on Jul 8, 2022.
  19. ^ "Team Canada National Women's Team Final Roster Set for Finland". Football Canada. 20 May 2022. Archived from the original on May 20, 2022.
  20. ^ York Region–Montreal Blitz, May 13 2023
    Montreal Blitz–York Region, Jun 3 2023
    York Region–Montreal Blitz, Jun 10 2023
    Montreal Blitz–York Region, Jun 17 2023; Archived links from CCWFL Stats on TeamLinkt, 2023
  21. ^ "New chapter for the Ottawa Capital Rebels". CCWFL. December 19, 2023. Archived from the original on January 11, 2024.
  22. ^ "Historique". LFFMQ. Archived from the original on June 2, 2024.
  23. ^ a b "Teams". LFFMQ. Archived from the original on June 2, 2024. Our 5 teams for the 2024 season
  24. ^ Cadorette, Stéphane (April 24, 2024). "Une première ligue féminine de football pour mineures au Québec". Journal de Montréal.
  25. ^ "L'équipe de Trois-Rivières, les @battle_angels_football, en action". CCWFL Facebook. April 4, 2024.
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