'Only the beginning': The Indigenous girls’ football team that’s making history
For the first time ever, the Falcons Football Club is fielding a senior girls’ team which is competing in the Manitoba Girls Football Association.
Based in Bonivital, the team is almost entirely made up of Indigenous girls from Sagkeeng First Nation.
Most have never played football before and have long commutes just to get to practice.
"They drive every day, an hour and a half just to get to practice and then an hour and a half home after practice,” said Kathy Calancia, Falcons head coach.
Through a partnership with a high school in Sagkeeng First Nation and a rise in interest of girls wanting to play football, the Falcons Football Club established its first senior girls’ team.
However, very few of the girls had any experience playing the sport beforehand.
"Ever since I was in elementary [school] I've played basketball, and basketball has been my favourite sport and then I wanted to try something new,” said Falcons defensive back Emery Fontaine.
With an experienced coaching staff and just two players with any playing experience, tactically speaking, the goal is simply to learn the fundamentals.
The biggest lesson the head coach hopes these girls take away from the experience is how to approach a challenge with confidence and aggression
"When you're aggressive and you’re confident, then you come off as a new player or a new person,” Calancia said.
“Their heads are held high and their body language is all different and this is going to help them in life, in their future and every aspect of everything."
Playing in her first ever game last week, quarterback Jodie Laforte said there was a sense of fear taking the field.
"For the first game I was really nervous, I had butterflies [in my stomach] all day and I was just really scared just because it's tackling,” she said, adding that after the first game her favourite part is the tackling.
Faith Scott is one of the two experienced players on the team, and the only non-Indigenous member of the team.
She said less than a month into the season, the experience has already been a rewarding one.
"Our team is doing really good. It's only been like three weeks and we've all accomplished our own goals in a way and I'm very proud to call this my team,” Scott said.
The team will continue to make history later this summer when it competes at a national tournament as the first-ever team made up of all Indigenous girls.
Calancia hopes is the first of many milestones for this club.
"I want these girls all coming back to me because we need to play again next year. This is only the beginning of the amazing things that are to come,” she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Israeli forces seize Rafah border crossing in Gaza, putting ceasefire talks on knife's edge
Israeli tanks seized control of Gaza’s vital Rafah border crossing on Tuesday as Israel brushed off urgent warnings from close allies and moved into the southern city even as ceasefire negotiations with Hamas remained on a knife’s edge.
Mediterranean staple may lower your risk of death from dementia, study finds
A daily spoonful of olive oil could lower your risk of dying from dementia, according to a new study by Harvard scientists.
Winnipeg man admits to killing four women, argues he's not criminally responsible
Defence lawyers of Jeremy Skibicki have admitted in court the accused killed four Indigenous women, but argues he is not criminally responsible for the deaths by way of mental disorder – this latest development has triggered a judge-alone trial rather than a jury trial.
An El Nino-less summer is coming. Here's what that could mean for Canada
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
Man banned from owning animals after fatal Calgary dog attack
The owner of three Calgary dogs that got loose and mauled a woman to death in 2022 has been ordered to pay a $15,000 fine within one year and banned from owning any animal for 15 years.
Have you been removed from your family doctor’s patient list for visiting an Ontario walk-in clinic?
Some Ontarians are expressing frustration after they said that they were removed from their family doctor’s patient list for visiting a walk-in clinic in a process being called “de-rostering.”
East-end Ottawa family dealing with massive rat infestation
Residents in Ottawa’s Elmridge Gardens complex are dealing with a rat infestation that just won’t go away. Now, after doing everything they can to try to fix the issue, they are pleading with the city to step in and help.
Canadian government proposes new foreign influence registry as part of wide-spanning new bill
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government is proposing a suite of new measures and law changes aimed at countering foreign interference in Canada, amid extensive scrutiny over past meddling attempts and an ever-evolving threat landscape.
Boeing Starliner capsule's first crewed test flight postponed
The long-awaited first crewed test flight of Boeing's new Starliner space capsule was called off for at least 24 hours over a technical issue that launch teams were unable to resolve in time for the planned Monday night lift-off.