Women’s Flag Football drew a multi-provincial crowd ahead of the Vanier Cup this past weekend, showcasing their sport is growing in size and competition.
The Queen’s Women’s Flag Football team took to Miklas-McCarney Field for the 5v5 flag football showcase on Nov. 24 alongside several teams from Ontario and Quebec. The event was held in partnership with Ontario Women’s Intercollegiate Football Association (OWIFA) and Football Ontario and was sponsored by the NFL and the Canadian Collegiate Women’s Flag (CCWF). The semi-finals and finals were played at Richardson Stadium.
In the end, the Université de Montréal took home victory, making them back-to-back CCWF champions.
The Gaels held their own in the tournament, winning two out of three games win a win against the York Lions, a loss against Université du Québec à Montréal Citadins, and another win against the Guelph Gryphons.
“We had a tough game versus the Citadins, but we came back and won this game [against Guelph],” Maggie Mallabone, ArtSci ’24, told The Journal in an interview. “The last tournament Guelph placed first overall, so we’re definitely really hyped up about that win.”
The Gaels showcased their skills and resilience during the tournament, despite being a new Queen’s and no-experience-necessary team.
Rookie Brooke Ross, Kin ’27, was one of the many women that played an excellent game.
“It’s really nice to be welcomed on the team as a first year and just be incorporated in and I’m so grateful to get to play and have time, and the fact that it turned out really well, it’s just a positive on top of that,” she said.
As part of the offensive line, Ellie Munro, Sci ’25, was an instrumental part of her team’s win against Guelph.
“We definitely had some ups and downs for sure,” she said. “But we locked in [and] we stuck to what we learned in practice. And it’s all about just looking up and finding open space and getting to the end zone.”
Though the Gaels weren’t champions of the day, hosting the tournament brought forth its own set of victories within the sport itself.
“To represent Queen’s at home, it really just emphasizes that women’s football is nothing but growing, and to be able to host a tournament of this magnitude, it brings so much tourism to Queen’s, it brings a lot of attention to female sport in general,” said Cassandra Cantarutti, Assistant Coach for the 5v5 and 11v11 Queen’s Women’s Football teams.
“I hope that people see that this sport is legit and that it’s going to get bigger and bigger.”
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