Love for the game makes Valkyries go

Family feeling and championships result from football bond

The Valkyries celebrate a Grace McCorriston (#82) TD.

The Saskatoon Valkyries love the game of football, and the game has loved them back.

The base commonalty between everyone on Saskatoon’s storied Western Women’s Canadian Football League team is that they love the game. That has allowed players from all sorts of backgrounds to be able to come together.

Ultimately through that initial bond of the love for the game, the family atmosphere on the team developed.

On Saturday at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, the Valkyries completed a perfect 7-0 season taking the WWCFL Championship Game 36-6 over the Winnipeg-based Manitoba Fearless. The win marked the seventh time the Valkyries have won the WWCFL title dating back to the team’s and the league’s inaugural season in 2011.

The Valkyries celebrate winning their seventh WWCFL title.

Actually, the last time the Valkyries lost a game was way back on June 24, 2018, when they fell 14-10 to the Riot in Regina at Mosaic Stadium in that year’s WWCFL title game. Since that setback, the Valkyries have won 19 straight games including one contest by forfeit.

The winning streak included capturing the WWCFL crown on June 29, 2019 with a 25-3 victory over the Riot in Regina at Mosaic Stadium. The Valkyries dedicated that perfect 9-0 season to defensive position coach Justin Filteau, who passed away in a plane crash on June 1, 2019 with that campaign still in progress.

Jaime Lammerding (#21) carries the Valkyries flag to the field.

Filteau’s parents in father, Ron and mother, Nancy, took part in the coin toss before the Valkyries WWCFL title winning game on Saturday and were presented with Justin’s championship ring from 2019.

Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that gripped the world, the 2020 and 2021 WWCFL campaigns were cancelled. The Valkyries were able to take the field in 2021 winning every outing in a three-game exhibition series against the Riot.

This season the Valkyries returned to the field with a great mix of veterans and first and second year players. The second-year players all got their first taste playing for the squad in the 2021 exhibition series against the Riot.

Ashley Viklund (#65) locks up on a block for the Valkyries.

The fact that so many veterans returned after two years of not playing an actual regular season or post-season games speaks highly to the culture on the team. On top of loving the game, the family atmosphere is so good you couldn’t imagine not having the teammates, coaches and staff on the Valkyries in your life.

For the newcomers that are in their first and second years, they found an atmosphere that was so welcoming they immediately felt a sense of belonging. It is another aspect that adds to the Valkyries machine and allows it to go.

The atmosphere is so good on the Valkyries that you see someone like star defensive tackle Jaime Lammerding return to the field year after year playing a position that is taxing physically. She took the field with the Valkyries in their first season back in 2011.

Rienna Rueve punts the ball for the Valkyries.

When she let it be known the 2022 campaign would be her last ride season as a player, the Valkyries made sure she went out on a high note. Lammerding has added the most to the Valkyries upbeat culture over the years.

Away from the field, she took up a leadership role serving as president of the WWCFL taking on countless volunteer hours that go with that role.

Linebacker Beth Lalonde has been with the Valkyries since their inaugural season and would have played in 2022 had it not been for an injury she sustained before the start of the regular season. She still remained with the team helping coach the linebackers throughout the season.

Another hero that has kept the Valkyries motoring along behind the scenes has been Michelle Duchene, who help found the team and has been the club’s general manager since its inception. Usually, someone in a volunteer leadership role like Duchene holds stays in that spot for about five years before taking a break.

Emmarae Dale (#45) and Danaye Holynski (#55) team on a tackle.

With the Valkyries, no one has to worry about who is at the helm, because Duchene has always been there. A lot of the family feeling with the team starts there with her.

Players who were once rivals have been adopted into the Valkyries family like former Riot members in left guard Ashley Vikland and receiver Rachelle Smith. Life brought Vikland to Saskatoon in 2018 and the Smith to “The Bridge City” in 2019.

Vikland was a member of two WWCFL title winning teams with the Riot, and Smith was with the Regina side for all three of their WWCFL championships.

When they came to the Valkyries, it seemed like they played their entire football lives with the team earning two more WWCFL championships in 2019 and 2022.

Alex Eyolfson had arguably her best season with the Valkyries.

Like Lammerding, Vikland has elected to hang up the cleats on a stellar playing career following the completion of the 2022 campaign.

Veteran quarterback Alex Eyolfson radiates a vibe that makes you feel like everything is going to be alright even if things go wrong. She arguably had her best season guiding an offence that was veteran heavy with players like receivers Reed Thorstad, Ricki Obed, left tackle Alyssa Funk, centre Alex Wojcichowsky, right tackle Betsy Mawdsley, right guard Lauren Ferguson and running back Sarah Wright.

Saskatoon got a lot of key performances from big play third year receiver in Haley Girolami.

All-time great Valkyries running back Sam Matheson suffered a season ending knee injury in the team’s second regular season game but remained with the squad helping coach the running backs.

Valkyries LB Sydney Schenn (#57) pressures the quarterback.

The defence was led by the veteran presence of middle linebacker Emmarae Dale along with Lammerding. The defensive secondary got a boost when Rienna Rueve, who has been with the club since 2012, elected to return to the lineup as a player after two games as injuries started to add up. Rueve handled punting duties too upon her return.

Ninth-year defensive back Shaylyn De Jong also helped out in the coaching department after her season came to an end with a leg injury.

Receiver Kelsey Murphy, who has been with the Valkyries since 2014, and fourth year pass catcher Danielle Girolami bolstered the defensive playing safety and defensive halfback respectively.

Sarah Wright breaks downfield on a long run.

Defensive end Danaye Holynski and linebacker Jamie Wingate, who both joined the Valkyries in the 2019 WWCFL championship season, solidified star status with the big plays they made in 2022.

The first and second year players brought spunk and a kick butt youthful energy to the team. The second year players that brought spark included defensive back Makayla Sader, defensive end Arden Kliewer, running back and kicker Drew Lundquist and receiver and kicker Grace McCorriston.

Defensive back Jackie Semple-Dyck, Grace Farthing on the defensive line, linebackers Kiara Willick and Sydney Schenn and offensive guard Breanna Allgretto made immediate big impacts on the team as rookies.

About eight first or second years players on average usually started on defence as injuries piled up on that side of the ball this past season.

The Valkyries start celebrating their WWCFL championship win.

In practice under the watchful eyes of the coaching staff led by head coach Pat Barry, defensive coordinator Wyatt Carleton and offensive coordinator Caleb Dueck, the Valkyries efficiently get a tonne of work done in practices and video sessions.

When no one is watching, the Valkyries are doing what they need to do to get better and the results show up on the field.

Overall, the Valkyries are able to go from the simple fact that they love the game of football. From there, the family atmosphere and the stellar play on the field comes around naturally.

The Valkyries have fun with the WWCFL championship trophy.

Even when world events beyond anyone’s control causes stoppages and prevents championship games from being played for a couple of years, the Valkyries come back better than ever.

The memories and culture that was in place before those stoppages was remembered and helped the Valkyries move forward like no time had passed when everything started rolling again.

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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