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For a second consecutive year, the Women's Football Conference has succeeded in providing a space to help expand knowledge and opportunity for women and gender minorities in football.
“We've been able to build sort of a network and a community of women in football in not only Ontario, but in Canada,” says Emily Todd, Coordinator for the Women's Football Conference.
“And having so many people that are supportive of it and want to be involved and want to see the sport grow for women is huge.”
Kicking off with a networking night at Tim Hortons Field, the three-day long event that took place from March 1 to 3, involved a number of valuable sessions for the 50 attendees to gain connections and learn more about the sport. This included a stadium tour, speakers, a panel, free officials clinic, breakout sessions, progression drills for coaches, skills clinic for athletes, and finally a scrimmage on the field.
In total, the Hamilton-based event welcomed thirty-six speakers, fourteen of which were U SPORTS football staff from the OUA and AUS.
|
Speaker |
Institution |
|
Chris Hopkins |
McMaster University |
|
Carlie Manners |
University of Toronto |
|
Gavin Lake |
Saint Mary's University |
|
Micah Brown |
Saint Mary's University |
|
Mike Domanico |
University of Windsor |
|
Andrew Graham |
University of Waterloo |
|
Mike Domanico |
University of Windsor |
|
Zak Colangelo |
Mount Allison University |
|
Brian Jones |
York University |
|
Sidney Parkes |
McMaster University |
|
Christian Kuriata |
Wilfred Laurier University |
|
Corey Grant |
Carleton University |
|
Brendan Conway |
University of Waterloo |
|
Stef Ptazsek |
McMaster University |
|
Taylor Mickelboro |
OUA Football Official |
|
Kevin Mickelboro |
OUA Football Official |
|
Todd Galloway |
Wilfred Laurier University |
|
Nate Griffith |
York University |
|
Taylor MacIntyre |
McMaster University |
|
Randy Beardy |
University of Windsor |
According to founderTaylor MacIntyre, the idea for the Women's Football Conference first came following her own experience participating in the CFL Women In Football program.
“I was fortunate enough to spend four weeks in Winnipeg with the Blue Bombers,” said MacIntyre.
“That was such a valuable experience having that once in a lifetime opportunity. And when I came home back to Ontario, I was receiving messages from females that wanted to get into football or into coaching, specifically. And I said, ‘Why isn't there a platform? Or why isn't there already something in place?’ So I just created it.”
MacIntyre says before she began setting things in motion for the event, she reached out to Todd for advice.
“Right away I called Em and said I have this crazy idea, can I brainstorm with you? She's like, you have to do this. And right away I was like, okay, I need you to do this with me.”
And since, the two have used their unique backgrounds in football, MacIntyre having experience as an athlete and coach and Todd with a history in administrative and operations roles, to make it happen.
“One of the biggest things for me is being able to give that next generation of women and girls and show them what's possible,” said Todd.
“Show them that you can work in the CFL, you can coach football, you can coach men's football, women's football, you can continue playing into adulthood and be in strength and conditioning football operations.”
Both MacIntyre and Todd say that growing up, career options in football were often limited.
For MacIntyre in particular, it became tougher to find a place to land after high school, where she both played and coached football.
“After that there weren't opportunities for women, it didn't exist yet,” she said.
“I didn't have a community of women of football, I didn't know any other females that played football at the time.”
Because of this, MacIntyre says she believes it is important for female leaders in the space to help each other when they can.
“Holding the door open for someone reaching out and if you see an opening somewhere and encouraging them to apply,” said MacIntyre.
“I think we really have to support each other in this to make that happen.”
As for Todd, the opportunity to be around the sport came after volunteering alongside the equipment manager of the football team at Western University while completing her studies.
“I was there for three years and made some really great connections and worked with some awesome coaches.”
Still, MacIntyre says that for most women and gender minorities in football, the pathways are not linear.
“We don't have the traditional pathways of playing in high school or minor ball, playing in university, playing in the CFL, and then going straight into coaching,” said MacIntyre.
“So I think it's important for us to know the importance of networking and knowing that our passion for football is just as important.”
For this reason, she says she hopes to continue to build off of the momentum that the CFL and the NFL Women's Forum have already created. And one day, MacIntyre says she hopes her efforts can help allow for equal opportunity for women to play tackle football in university or college.
“That's something I would love to see come to fruition in the next 5 to 10 years. And if it's sooner, that's amazing.”
But until then, the advice she maintains for the next generation who are looking to follow her steps is to simply take the risk.
“I think just having the courage and the confidence to reach out and knowing there are opportunities available and we just have to be confident in chasing down what we're passionate about,” said MacIntyre.