Central Canadian Women's Football League Explained

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] 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.

In French, the league is named the Ligue centrale canadienne de football féminin (LCCFF).[3]

History

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.[4] [5] Its official launch in July was attended by the premier of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne,[6] and members of the Toronto Argonauts gave continuing support to the players.[6] [7] Aaron Ellis had founded the project so that his daughter Tianna could continue to play football after high school.[8] Teams would have been based in Mississauga, Hamilton, Scarborough and York Region.[6] However, the planned league did not materialize in 2015 due to lack of registered players.[9]

The Montreal Blitz had been established in 2001[1] and won the American Independent Women's Football League championship in 2012.[10] [11] The Ottawa Capital Rebels were founded in early 2020.[12]

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,[13] who were undefeated by the end of the season on June 25. The Montreal team is coached by former quarterback Saadia Ashraf.[14] 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.[15] Because some team rosters were undersized, the 2022 games were played as 9-versus-9 players.[15] [3]

The CCWFL commissioner is Andréanne Dupont-Parent, the Montreal Blitz's general manager and a former player for Canada in the 2010 World Championship.[16] Male CFL players who have been involved in training the CCWFL's players include Eddie Brown, Antoine Pruneau, and Samuel Thomassin.[17] Ten CCWFL players were selected for the primary Canada team roster at the American football 2022 World Championship.[18]

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.[19] In December 2023, the Ottawa Capital Rebels became the women's football section of the Gatineau Valkries.[20] In 2023 in Quebec, a related football league for girls aged 15–17 was founded, the LFFMQ,[21] [22] playing its first season in 2024.[23] [22]

In 2024, the CCWFL added a team in Trois-Rivières, the Trois-Rivières Battle Angels;[24] the league had targeted that city for expansion since 2022.[3] The league also aims to expand to include teams in Toronto[3] and (as of 2022) elsewhere in Quebec and Ontario within five years.[25]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Organizers see world of opportunity w/ women's league . CFL . https://web.archive.org/web/20210622002429/https://www.cfl.ca/2021/06/21/oleary-organizers-see-world-opportunity-w-womens-league/ . June 22, 2021 . June 21, 2021 . live.
  2. News: Women's tackle football returns to Quebec, and they're looking for players . CBC News . March 1, 2022 . live . July 8, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220708093109/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/women-s-tackle-football-quebec-recruitment-1.6368325 .
  3. News: Une première saison dans les livres pour les Capital Rebels d'Ottawa . Radio-Canada . June 19, 2022 . live . July 8, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220708093109/https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1892255/ottawa-capital-rebels-football-feminin .
  4. Web site: CCWFL Official Launch . Football Canada . https://web.archive.org/web/20151008203210/http://footballcanada.com/central-canada-womens-football-league-ccwfl-official-launch/ . Oct 8, 2015 . Apr 9, 2014 . dead. Web site: CCWFL – Lancement officiel . Football Canada . https://web.archive.org/web/20170328121538/http://footballcanada.com/fr/central-canada-womens-football-league-ccwfl-official-launch-2/ . Mar 28, 2017 . Apr 9, 2014 . dead.
  5. Web site: CCWFL Press Release 4-09-2014 . Football Canada . https://web.archive.org/web/20220521070700/https://footballcanada.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/CCWFL-Press-Release_4-09-2014.pdf . May 21, 2022 . dead.
  6. News: Women's football league launched . King Weekly Sentinel . July 2, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220521070736/http://kingsentinel.com/?p=4330 . May 21, 2022 . live.
  7. Web site: Women, football and Argos . The Chronicle . Durham College . Oct 30, 2014 . July 9, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220709215419/https://chronicle.durhamcollege.ca/2014/10/women-football-and-argos/ . live.
  8. News: GTA dad-daughter bond behind women's football league . Toronto Star . https://web.archive.org/web/20140730093443/https://www.thestar.com/sports/football/2014/07/26/gta_daddaughter_bond_behind_womens_football_league.html . Jul 30, 2014. McKnight, Zoe. July 26, 2014.
  9. Web site: Staffieri . Mark . CCWFL deserves an A for Effort . Fourth and Feminine . https://web.archive.org/web/20170807064256/https://fourthandfeminine.wordpress.com/2015/06/14/ccwfl-deserves-an-a-for-effort/ . August 7, 2017 . June 14, 2015 . live.
  10. Web site: Le Blitz de Montréal remporte le Championnat Mondial de l'IWFL . Football Québec . https://web.archive.org/web/20170225051317/http://footballquebec.com/2012/07/le-blitz-de-montreal-remporte-le-championnat-mondial/ . Feb 25, 2017 . dead.
  11. Web site: Montreal Blitz are the 2012 IWFL World Champions! . IWFL Sports . https://web.archive.org/web/20130308022146/http://iwflsports.com/pressroom/news/index.html?article_id=86 . March 8, 2013 . dead.
  12. News: 'There will be bruises': Capital Rebels tackle male-dominated world of full-contact football . CBC News . February 15, 2020 . live . July 8, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220708093109/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/womens-contact-football-ottawa-capital-rebels-1.5463924 .
  13. Web site: Montreal Blitz . . May 12, 2022 . Le premier match contre le Phoenix.
    Web site: Montreal Blitz . . May 15, 2022 . une victoire de 25-0 contre le Phoenix.
  14. Web site: Landry: Saadia Ashraf is a true builder of the game . CFL . 8 March 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220308190841/https://www.cfl.ca/2022/03/08/landry-saadia-ashraf-is-a-true-builder-of-the-game/ . March 8, 2022 . live.
  15. News: It's a hit! Canadian girls and women crushing stereotypes by playing tackle football . Ottawa Sun . https://web.archive.org/web/20220508005557/https://ottawasun.com/sports/football/womens-football . May 8, 2022 . live.
  16. Web site: Dupont-Parent aims to build through Als' experience . CFL . 2 June 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220708082628/https://www.cfl.ca/?p=1706772 . Jul 8, 2022.
  17. News: Une ligue féminine de football en Ontario et au Québec dès 2022 . Le Droit . Aug 21, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220708074104/https://www.ledroit.com/2021/08/21/une-ligue-feminine-de-football-en-ontario-et-au-quebec-des-2022-b1f18e5e55fc35961a48fef915d6fe31 . Jul 8, 2022 . live.
  18. Web site: Team Canada National Women's Team Final Roster Set for Finland . Football Canada . 20 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220520224323/https://footballcanada.com/news/team-canada-national-womens-team-final-roster-set-for-finland/ . May 20, 2022 . live.
  19. https://web.archive.org/web/20240602222152/https://leagues.teamlinkt.com/Leagues/event/7238/770176#stats York Region–Montreal Blitz, May 13 2023
  20. Web site: New chapter for the Ottawa Capital Rebels . CCWFL . https://web.archive.org/web/20240111215104/https://www.ccwfl.ca/post/new-chapter-for-the-ottawa-capital-rebels . January 11, 2024 . December 19, 2023.
  21. Web site: Historique . LFFMQ . https://web.archive.org/web/20240602230129/https://www.lffmq.ca/pages/historique . June 2, 2024.
  22. Web site: Teams . LFFMQ . https://web.archive.org/web/20240602224805/https://www.lffmq.ca/en/pages/equipes . June 2, 2024 . Our 5 teams for the 2024 season.
  23. News: Cadorette . Stéphane . Une première ligue féminine de football pour mineures au Québec . Journal de Montréal . April 24, 2024.
  24. Web site: L'équipe de Trois-Rivières, les @battle_angels_football, en action . CCWFL Facebook . April 4, 2024.
  25. News: New Canadian women's tackle football league comes to the nation's capital . CityNews . https://web.archive.org/web/20220515171736/https://ottawa.citynews.ca/local-news/new-canadian-womens-tackle-football-league-comes-to-the-nations-capital-5367006 . May 15, 2022 . live.

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