Great debut for Niagara Badger Football Club
Head coach Alex Penz’s dream turned into the reality of a fourth-place finish by the Niagara Badger Football Club at the recent Ontario Women’s Intercollegiate Football Association’s provincial flag football tournament at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton.
Niagara advanced to the semifinals by defeating Waterloo Gold 42-6, Laurier 12-0, York 14-6 and Ottawa 13-6. The Badger club then fell 18-6 to the University of Toronto in the semifinals and 7-6 to Western in the bronze medal game.
“When I started this in November, I never expected to become the third best university in the province overnight, and it’s all thanks to the hard work of the players, coaches, and execs,” Penz said. “We now have our goal set on being the No. 1 program in the province next year with 13 to 15 players returning.”
Last November, Penz decided to start a women’s flag football team at Brock University with the guidance and support of Dr. Ryan Clutterbuck in the sport management department. When told Brock wouldn’t support the team, he took matters into his own hands. He hosted a meeting in November to see who wanted to be involved as a player, coach or executive. Penz learned the OWIFA rules while planning how to build the team, In January, interviews were held for coach and executive positions.
Selected were: Ruby Neumann as president; Cole Meyering as treasurer; Kae Allison as vice president; Brayden Hiddleston, Cole Meyering and Tyler Tweedy as assistant coaches; and, Matty Hill from Niagara Youth Flag Football offered his services as defensive coordinator.
The first team meeting was held March 3 and one week later practices started in the middle of a snow storm. Practices were held five days a week over the next three weeks and the team felt the pressure to make the most of every moment. While the players practised, Neumann and Allison worked non-stop to find sponsors for this team. They ended up finding six.
“We are so incredibly grateful to all of our sponsors and we could not have done it without them,” Allison said.
Allison was thrilled with how it all came together.
“Never in my life have I been so proud. One month may have been long enough for these ladies to hold their own and blow through the group stage, but it was not long enough for me,” she said. “Over the last four weeks, these ladies have practiced almost every day. They put in so much time and effort to commit to this team to make our dream a reality. As far as I’m concerned we did just that.”
She can’t wait for what comes next.
“This is only the beginning. We will be back better than ever. Who knows with a little more time what we could accomplish.”
The squad was made up of 15 Brock students.
“This team is an amazing team and everyone works so hard to make this team happen and we cannot wait for the many more years for the team to develop,” co-captain Alexis Coe said.
Co-captain Toni Choppa echoed those sentiments.
“Despite the fact that we’ve been a team for just over a month and have already come so far in this tournament will always be nothing short of legendary to me. Everyone who is a part of NBF has put their blood, sweat and tears into making this happen. Things can only get better from here.”
The players had a blast.
“This team has been so much fun to be apart of, especially in the last year of my undergrad,” fourth-year student Catherine Chimienti said. “Even though I’ve only known the players and the coaches/execs for a small amount of time, they all have had such a positive impact on my final semester. Playing the sport I have loved since high school makes me feel like a kid again. Being at the tournament and competing against other girls who also have such a passion for the sport is so amazing to see. I hope this sport continues to grow and for women to come together and have as much fun as my team did.”
Second-year player Clare Tew thanked all those involved.
“This opportunity was incredible, but none of it would have been possible without the Niagara Badger Football team coaches and executives that spent countless hours on and off the field,” she said. “I’d also like to thank the Ontario Women’s Intercollegiate Football Association for organizing this tournament, as well as continuing to grow the sport of football to female athletes. I look forward to the future of both Niagara Badgers Football and the growth of women’s sports.”
