Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
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Before this week, the chance to represent Saskatchewan on the national stage in football is something dozens of women across the province waited years for.
Ten years in fact, as it has been a decade since Team Saskatchewan last claimed victory at the Canadian Senior Women’s Football Championship in 2016.
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A decade of waiting finally ended for @FootballSask tonight, capturing Senior Women’s Nationals for the first time since 2016.
— Scott Roblin (@ScottRoblin) August 9, 2026
What a moment for the @ValkyriesYXE and @ReginaRiot players celebrating at SMF Field.
Rivals to teammates, now golden together. pic.twitter.com/t3FDlknO7l
On Saturday night, that patience finally paid off for 40 Saskatchewan players who left SMF Field in Saskatoon with gold medals hanging around their necks.
“Ten years is a long enough wait, but it was worth it,” said Team Saskatchewan receiver Shanelle Rioux.
Team Saskatchewan got the job done in the gold medal game of Canadian Senior Women’s Nationals, as they defeated Quebec 24-3 to end their week on top of the country.
“It is so special, we’ve been waiting so long,” said Team Saskatchewan linebacker Emmarae Dale.
“It’s been 10 years since the national championship. We’ve just been waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and working so hard. Everything has just been really about this moment.”
Saskatchewan shut out Quebec in the second half to preserve the win, while generating nine turnovers on the night.
Head coach Pat Barry took stock of a wild few weeks getting all players acclimated to each other before the tournament, as he said Saturday’s win was a big one for the program.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our players,” Barry said.
“They competed hard against a very, very good Quebec team, I’m kind of overwhelmed. It’s a great moment, it’s a great moment for football in Saskatchewan.”
The gold medals cap off another successful season for women’s football in the province, with the Saskatoon Valkyries coming off a sixth consecutive Western Women’s Canadian Football League title won at SMF Field in June.
“There’s been a lot of awesome and incredible games on this football field,” Dale said. “To be able to add one more to the list is pretty cool and really special. I’m pretty happy to have done it at home.”
Tied 3-3 midway through the second quarter on Saturday, Saskatchewan broke through with a 61-yard pass from quarterback Julia Smith to Rioux who took it the rest of the way for a 10-3 lead.
That was followed up less than four minutes later by a 70-yard interception return by Dale to the end zone for the pick-six and a commanding 17-3 lead at halftime.
Dale wasn’t done there however, as she registered her second interception return for a touchdown of the night midway through the fourth quarter in a 114-yard play from one end zone to the other.
It was a play which ended all hope of a Quebec comeback and sealed the gold medal win for Saskatchewan.
“You dream of those big plays,” Dale said.
“You just hope that you do your job and good things will happen. Sometimes you’re in the right place, at the right time when you do your job and trust your teammates.”
Dale was named the tournament’s most valuable defensive player, which Barry said was well deserved for one of his key leaders with the Valkyries.
“It’s just an amazing performance by her,” Barry said. “She’s such a great person, an exceptional teammate and a great athlete. We’re just so proud to have her on our team.”
Rioux was named the tournament’s most valuable offensive player, while Quebec’s Amélie Beauregard was the most valuable special teams player.
With such a large gap since the last time Saskatchewan got the chance to play for a gold medal, Rioux said it was important to show young girls where football can take them in the future.
“Saskatchewan bleeds football, we bleed football,” Rioux said.
“This brings together a community that isn’t very used to this out here, every 10 years is crazy. These young girls are getting this every year and that’s amazing. They’re going to feed up to our league, so to see these girls come out here and this is what they have to look forward to is just unreal.”
Aside from Kinslee Cousins of the Prince Albert Carleton Crusaders, every player on Team Saskatchewan’s roster came from either the Valkyries or Regina Riot programs.
Barry said the chemistry generated over the course of the tournament was remarkable with only a few camps and practices leading into nationals.
“The way that they came together is a remarkable achievement in the last eight days,” Barry said.
Often pitted across the line of scrimmage from the top offensive weapons on the Riot, Dale said this week was a unique opportunity to get to compete alongside some of her fiercest rivals during the WWCFL season.
“It’s just an incredible group of women,” Dale said. “We love playing against each other, competing against each other, making each other better. We knew that we were in a pretty good spot going into the tournament.
For one week at least, the Valkyries-Riot rivalry was able to be put on hold as a few dozen women from across the province got the opportunity to become champions together in green and white.
“This week we are all together,” Rioux said.
“After this, we can go back to being enemies. It doesn’t take away the bonds that we’ve created right now. We’re going to care about each other’s personal lives, we’re going to care about each other’s success in the sport and anywhere else.”
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