How U Sports pilot will grow Saskatchewan women’s flag football

On the University of Saskatchewan campus, Anton Amundrud and Jake Farrell are the most immediately recognizable names at quarterback for the school’s football team.

But there’s another pivot roaming the halls, one who is starting to build her own trophy case.

Read more:

• Sask. athletes selected for national U17 girls flag football squad
• U Sports adding women’s flag football pilot for 2027-28 season
• Hidden talents of the Saskatchewan Roughriders revealed

Julia Smith is in the midst of her second season as starting quarterback with the Saskatoon Valkyries and led the team to its fifth consecutive Western Women’s Canadian Football League championship last year.

She’s also a member of the university’s women’s flag football team, which has spent years playing at the unsanctioned, club level.

“I am a student-athlete, but I don’t get any of those benefits when I am at school,” Smith said.

That will be changing for Smith and other female student-athletes, following this week’s decision by U Sports to add women’s flag football as an official pilot sport starting in the 2027-28 season.

It is a move which has opened the door for women on the gridiron to be declared U Sports student-athletes and potentially earn scholarship opportunities in the future.

“It’s definitely tough because we don’t have any funding, really other than from Football Sask.,” Smith said.

“Getting to see that and maybe getting a scholarship opportunity, as well as all the other benefits that student-athletes get … is super great.”

U Sports made the decision at their annual meeting, adding women’s flag football as their second ever pilot sport following men’s and women’s tennis.

Football Canada will be partnering with U Sports to create a framework for sanctioned post-secondary competition, with the pilot project being evaluated after a five-year period to see if it will be elevated to full-sport status.

University of Regina director of sport, community engagement and athlete development Lisa Robertson sat on the U Sports panel which voted to add women’s flag football and says it’s a move towards equity in the sport.

“Frankly, I think it’s exciting,” Robertson said.

“I think the more female athlete opportunities that we can provide, the better. We have a football program, there’s many across the country and it’s a nice balancing out factor with that program to provide additional opportunity for our female student-athletes.”

The University of Regina fielded two teams last month hosting the Canadian Collegiate Flag Football Championship, a national tournament launched by Football Canada in 2022 to bring together the best club teams from across the country.

Receiver Shayden Magnus was on the field for the Cougars against the top competition from across Canada and is eagerly anticipating the next wave of talent getting the opportunity to play for U Sports national championships.

“There’s a lot of girls that once you get to a certain age you have to start picking what sport you want to play,” Magnus said.

“Now that there’s this, there’s lots of girls that will continue playing all throughout high school and into their post-secondary careers.”

The door to U Sports participation is now open to players like 16-year-old Neko Michell from Regina, who was named to Canada’s 17U national girls junior flag football team earlier this week.

Identified through a series of ID camps, she’ll be competing on the world stage along with Saskatoon’s Olivia Klein at the Junior International Cup in Los Angeles, Ca.

“To have an opportunity to play football, but not as a contact sport is awesome,” Michell said.

“It’s now being brought into U Sports, that just gives lots of more opportunities for us all to join the sport.”

Football Canada chair Jo-Anne Polak has called Saskatchewan one of the leaders in flag football participation across the country, with strong growth in both the men’s and women’s games.

That’s extended to the club levels at both the University of Regina and University of Saskatchewan, which has given the province a leg up on other parts of the country, according to Robertson.

“We’re only one of two schools in Canada West that actually has flag football,” Robertson said.

“(Atlantic University Sport) maybe has one. There’s quite a big concentration in Quebec and Ontario. It really will be a developing sport for Canada West, as well as the Atlantic region.”

University of Saskatchewan Huskies chief athletics officer Shannon Chinn was not available for comment at te time of publication.

Valkyries linebacker Emmarae Dale is no stranger to being a U Sports student-athlete, competing for the Huskies program in track and field between 2016 and 2020.

She’s also no stranger to watershed moments in football, as she became the first woman to play in the Canadian Junior Football League for the Saskatoon Hilltops.

Now serving as women’s football growth and development coordinator with Football Saskatchewan, Dale is encouraged by what this means for high-level women’s athletes in the years to come.

“It’s just awesome to have those elite opportunities or more high-performance pathways for girls,” Dale said. “They can keep choosing football as their primary sport and not feel like there’s nothing for them after high school.”

Valkyries head coach Pat Barry has also seen the effect of the rise of flag football first hand with his tackle program over the last few years.

“At the beginning of the club, we would have some great athletes but they maybe didn’t know very much about football,” Barry said.

“Most of our athletes have played some level of football now before we get them, so it’s a big change and it’s an exciting change for us.”

Magnus is one of those athletes who splits her time between flag football with the Cougars and tackle football with the WWCFL’s Regina Riot.

She said the recognition by U Sports of the growth of women’s flag football is vital for both disciplines, with the hopes of keeping more women and girls on the field playing the sport.

“We make sure that athletes have the opportunity to play both tackle and flag,” Magnus said. “They don’t have to choose one or the other. Actually, we encourage people to be playing both. I think it’s really great that the relationship will be able to grow even more now.”

Starting with the 2027-28 athletic season, women’s flag football is being introduced as an official U Sports pilot sport in collaboration with Football Canada. (Football Canada/Facebook)

Football and finances

With the addition of women’s flag football will increase the number of U Sports national championships to 24, including 13 championships in women’s sport.

While Robertson is supportive of bringing in flag football as a pilot sport, she said the financial commitment is a real challenge for schools across the country.

“We live in an environment of limited resources,” Robertson said.

“When we make decisions to add or elevate around any of our sports, we have a very clear sport framework that’s published on our website. Any movement within that framework comes with lots of conversation, consultation to ensure that we can manage our programs within the budget envelope we do have.”

Season frameworks, participating universities, plus details around the site and date of the Football Canada / U Sports Women’s Flag Football Championship have not yet been determined or announced by U Sports.

When it comes to the University of Regina’s involvement, Robertson added there are many conversations that will need to be had before committing to a 2027-28 season.

“I think there’s some interesting opportunities for us,” Robertson said. “What they are yet? I don’t feel comfortable speaking to it until I get back home and start to have some conversations to build this out.”

Flag football will enter into the spotlight in 2028 as well, with its Olympic debut at the Los Angeles Games for both men’s and women’s competition.

According to Smith, that is now front of mind for many student-athletes who can see themselves on the Olympic stage one day.

“It’ll just encourage more growth of the game when girls can see that there is a higher level that you can play at,” Smith said.

“Right now, it’s like you can play high school and then you’re kind of done. There’s more opportunities then to go to school, keep playing the sport and then maybe make the Olympics at some point.”

Read more:

• Sask. athletes selected for national U17 girls flag football squad
• U Sports adding women’s flag football pilot for 2027-28 season
• Hidden talents of the Saskatchewan Roughriders revealed