Women work hard to prove their ability to perform at the same level as men. A group of women at Western University are showing how tough they can be on their own tackle football team. Although the team is now provincial champions, they have yet to be acknowledged by Western and are not legally allowed to call themselves a Western team.
Western Women’s Football team member Claire Linner hopes that her team can become better acknowledged at their school and has created graphics for the team announcing their champion status. “We won the Ontario championships last year and no one has any idea that we did. Actually, we didn’t even receive anything for it. We didn’t get a banner, we didn’t get t-shirts or a trophy or any acknowledgement,” says Linner. Western University is known for their top ranked men’s football team that just recently won their second consecutive Yates Cup. Linner wishes their provincial victory was celebrated the same way as the Yates victory was.
One of the people helping these women to be acknowledged is a volunteer coach and student Joa Dugsin. Dugsin believes women deserve to be better represented in sports and hopes his help in coaching can advance their team. “A lot of people don’t appreciate how much these people put in or how much these girls actually do for the sport,” Dugsin says.
The team hopes to be acknowledged for their victories as Western students but also to one day become a varsity team and operate within OUA and U Sports.
With high hopes for the future of women’s sports at Western, the team continues to push themselves and looks forward to this year’s football season.
WATCH: THE COACHES OF WESTERNU WOMEN’S FOOTBALL
