U Sports Women’s Flag Football announcement has Regina football community excited

A new U SPORTS pilot will bring women’s flag football next year, sparking excitement among University of Regina athletes. Jacob Carr has more.

The level of anticipation is palpable in the Queen City from those in the football community.

U Sports announced earlier this month that in 2027, it will roll out women’s flag football as a pilot sport.

That has many in Regina excited, including members past and present of the University of Regina’s women’s team, which has been competing since 2021.

“Everyone’s really excited. This is something we’ve kind of been striving for, for a long time. We’ve had two other programs we competed against, in Quebec and Ontario that kind of have these developed programs and are considered more of a varsity sport,” said 2027 Assistant Coach Brenna Metz.

Metz is fresh off finishing her playing career with the team, having spent five years competing with the club, and will now transition into a coaching role.

She said it was a bittersweet pill to swallow seeing U Sports get involved right as her time as an athlete came to an end.

“I considered maybe sticking around for one more year, but I think it’s time to kind of pass my knowledge down as a coach. And I’m really excited for players coming in and players in our youth programs right now who get this opportunity and have a goal to strive towards,” she said.

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Metz said already having an established team will make the transition to U Sports competition easier, but there will be one major change as to who can play for the team come 2027.

“They will have to be full time student athletes. So, they’ll have to be taking in their winter semester a minimum of three courses. They will have to have completed a minimum of 18 credit hours going into, the next season,” said University of Regina Director of Sport, Community Engagement and Athlete Development Lisa Robertson.

The excitement for the announcement extends to the professional ranks.

Current Saskatchewan Roughriders, and former CIS and U Sports athletes Tevaughn Campbell and Kian Schaffer-Baker, who played their collegiate football at the U of R and Guelph respectively, are looking forward to the growth of the women’s flag game.

“It’s kind of taken a minute to get here to Canada, but it is making its rise. My son plays football now, and we get to now put my daughter in football with the hopes and opportunity of one day going and making a university team,” said Campbell.

“I remember being a little kid playing football, there was a couple girls that we hadn’t seen that were better than all the guys. So, you know there’s no limitations on who can play the game. And I think it’s a great opportunity to help grow the game,” added Schaffer-Baker.

According to U Sports, details regarding qualification procedures, participating institutions, and dates and locations of the league have yet to be determined.