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| Kori Herner (#27) secures an interception for the Valkyries. |
Herner is associated the most with the sports of hockey and
softball. In hockey, she played for the Saskatoon Stars female midget AAA team
for two seasons from 2011 to 2013 and was the club’s captain in her final
campaign.
Following her time with the Stars, Herner played five
seasons with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team from
2013 to 2018, and she helped them win a Canada West Conference title and a
bronze at U Sports nationals as a rookie in 2013-14.
The Kindersley, Sask., product has been coaching in both
hockey and softball since her Huskies playing days wrapped up.
With the competitive juices still flowing to be a player,
Herner was persuaded to join the Valkyries, who are a powerhouse team in the
Western Women’s Canadian Football League, by the squad’s head coach, Pat Barry,
and veteran safety, Rienna Rueve.
Herner, who recently turned 24-years-old, never played
competitive tackle football before. She became a starting defensive halfback
for the Valkyries and aided them in capturing the WWCFL title with a 25-3
victory over the host Regina Riot on Saturday at Mosaic Stadium.
Besides learning a new sport and the ins and outs of the
nine-year-old WWCFL, Herner dealt for the first time ever of the sudden passing
of one of her team’s coaches as the season was in progress.
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| Kori Herner tries to rip away from a Riot tackler. |
“We went
through a really hard time, but I think overall it brought us closer together,”
said Herner. “We did it for (Justin) Filteau.
“We wanted
to win this championship for Filteau. Everything we did and every play we did,
everything was for him. I think that is what drove us to win this game.”
In Saturday’s WWCFL title game, Herner had one of the key
turning point plays that ultimately turned the contest in favour of the
Valkyries.
With Saskatoon holding a slim 1-0 lead over Regina in the
second quarter, Herner intercepted Riot star quarterback Aimee Kowalski setting
up the Valkyries in Regina’s half of the field.
On the ensuing offensive series, the Valkyries manufactured
a scoring drive that was capped by a four-yard rushing touchdown by star
running back Sam Matheson.
“It was
pretty sick,” said Herner, whose team has an 8-0 overall record. “We talked
before, and I said I wanted to get another one against Regina.
“I did when
we played them at home. I just saw it coming, and it was just right there. It
was a good feeling. It was great.”
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| Kori Herner (#27) is all focus after a pick by Ehjae Chan, middle. |
Going into those games against the Riot, Herner was
oblivious to the fact Kowalski was a career member of the Riot, who has played
on Saskatchewan’s provincial and Canada’s national women’s tackle football teams.
Herner said not knowing the reputations players had in the
WWCFL might have slightly helped her, but she doesn’t overly concern herself on
that front.
“I just
came to play,” said Herner. “Not really knowing a lot about her (Kowalski), it
doesn’t really matter either way, if I did or didn’t.
“I just
went and did my job.”
Barry was happy Herner elected to join the Valkyries this
season. The sideline boss was proud to see Herner step up in a big moment.
“It was a
big factor for sure,” said Barry. “It did switch the momentum.
“They were
starting to make some plays. It was a big play. She is a first year player, and
it was pretty exciting to have her make that play.”
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| Kori Herner (#27) enjoys a WWCFL title win with her teammates. |
Herner and Rueve also played flag football together during
the winter.
Barry and Rueve kept selling Herner on the Valkyries and
telling her the squad had a road trip to Las Vegas for an exhibition game. That
turned out to be one of the selling points that helped bring Herner to the club.
In that March 23 pre-season game, Herner played linebacker
helping the Valkyries post a 34-6 victory over the Sin City Trojans.
“Off the
hop, I was pretty nervous,” said Herner, who earned her kinesiology and
education degrees from the U of S. “I didn’t know a lot about football.
“I didn’t
know what to expect. They (the coaches) related everything to hockey. It just
started making sense to me.
“I really
enjoyed it.”
Herner found that she was good fit at defensive back. She
said Valkyries defensive backs coach James Vause was really good at teaching
the ins and outs of the position.
Vause played safety for the Saskatoon Hilltops on four
straight Canadian Junior Football League championship teams from 2014 to 2017,
and he is currently a safety with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds
football team in the U Sports ranks.
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| Kori Herner and the Valkyries are all smiles after their WWCFL title win. |
“F*&^$&#
awesome,” said Herner. “It was nice.
“Before, I
was talking to my grandpa and how he always bugs me. He is like, ‘You’ve won so
many championships.’ I’ve never won a football one before, so that would be
nice to add to the shelves.”
The Valkyries will hit the field for one more game before
their 2019 campaign comes to an end.
This coming Saturday, they host the Montreal Blitz at 1 p.m.
at Saskatoon Minor Football Field in an exhibition contest. The Blitz play out
of a women’s league in the United States.
When that contest concludes, the question posed to Herner
was would she return to the Valkyries in 2020 for a sophomore season?
She is teaching at Bedford Road Collegiate as well as
continuing to coach hockey and softball.
Herner is an assistant coach for Saskatchewan’s under-16 female team provincial hockey team, and she is taking on an assistant coach role with the Stars.
Herner is an assistant coach for Saskatchewan’s under-16 female team provincial hockey team, and she is taking on an assistant coach role with the Stars.
With all that going on, Herner expects she will return to
the Valkyries next season.
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| Kori Herner (#27) enjoys a fun moment with the Valkyries DBs. |
“I will
make time.”
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
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