Mawdsley is with the Saskatoon Valkyries for life

Offensive tackle pumped for conference final clash with Riot

Betsy Mawdsley sets up at right tackle for the Valkyries.

Betsy Mawdsley has pushed away football retirement once, and she would like to hold off a potential end to her playing days with the Saskatoon Valkyries as long as she can.

The veteran right tackle on the Valkyries all-star level offensive line thought last season might be the time she would ride into the sunset on a pretty good high note. In 2022, Mawdsley helped the Valkyries win their seventh WWCFL championship downing the Winnipeg based Manitoba Fearless 36-6 in the league’s title game held at Saskatoon Minor Football Field on June 25 to cap a 7-0 perfect season.

After the Valkyries season wrapped up, Mawdsley and 11 of her teammates joined Football Canada’s National Women’s Team to play in the International Federation of American Football’s Women’s World Championship, which ran July 28 to August 8 in 2022 in Vantaa, Finland. Canada closed that competition falling 19-17 to host Finland in the bronze medal game.

This week, the 35-year-old Mawdsley has the anticipation type of excitement like a child at Christmas for the Valkyries upcoming post-season clash. They host their provincial rivals the Regina Riot on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field in the WWCFL’s Prairie Conference Championship game.

The winner advances to the WWCFL Championship contest to be held on Saturday, June 24 at 2 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium on the University of Saskatchewan campus in Saskatoon.

As the Valkyries season nears a conclusion with the team down to potentially playing just two more games in 2023, the question for Mawdsley becomes will she be back in 2023?

Betsy Mawdsley makes a stop in the 2016 WWCFL final.

“I think it depends how nice I smile over the year with my partner whether I’ll be back,” said Mawdsley with a chuckle. “I think last year obviously being a national team year I thought it would be it for me.

“At gear pick up, there I was. I think year after year I’ll just have to take it as it comes.”

Mawdsley joined the Valkyries for their WWCFL championship season in 2016. She mainly played defensive end for her first couple of campaigns before transitioning over to the offensive line. Playing right tackle, Mawdsley helped the Valkyries win WWCFL titles in 2019 and 2022 and will still get some reps from time to time on the defensive line.

Both on and off the field, Mawdsley’s life has changed since joining the Valkyries in 2016, and she has enjoyed the fact the family she has built with the team has been there every step of the way as her world has evolved.

“I’d say my role has changed not because of my years on the team, but because I have gotten older,” said Mawdsley, who stands 6-foot-1. “When I started, I was unmarried and in university.

“Now, I’m married with two young children. My role on the team has changed as I have changed. I think now playing O-line I’m standing beside other people who have played forever.

“It honestly feels like all of us have been here forever. I would say my role has grown as I have grown. One complement to the program in general is that as my life has changed the program has continued to be there for me, and I’ve gotten to be able to be with the program for as long as I have.”

Mawdsley, who works as physiotherapist in Saskatoon, is one of the Valkyries veteran mainstays on the offensive line along with centre Alex Wojcichowsky, left guard Lauren Ferguson and left tackle Alyssa Funk. Ferguson and Funk played alongside Mawdsley with Canada at last year’s women’s worlds.

Betsy Mawdsley (#90) pass protects for the Valkyries in 2019.

Newcomers Brianna Hammett, Adrianne Taylor and Savanna Spendiff have played the right guard spot or have filled in at different positions on the offensive line depending how a game is playing out. Together, they’ve all allowed star quarterback Alex Eyolfson and the team’s offence to consistently have big games.

“Our O-line is really, really strong,” said Valkyries head coach Pat Barry. “It is one of the strengths of our team.

“They work together as a unit. (Offensive line coaches) Jack (Sloboda) and Ethan (Paslowski), they do a great job with those ladies. We do have some new players on our O-line, and the vets have really brought them in.

“It is just awesome to see.”

Barry said Mawdsley’s been an MVP when it comes both on the field playing on the offensive line and off the field when it comes to him look after some his own injuries from his own sports playing days.

“I’m a big fan of Betsy,” said Barry. “She does a lot of things for us.

“She is a great person. She is actually my physio. She takes care of my injuries that I have, so she is a great person to have around.

“I’m just so pleased that she continues to be an athlete on our team.”

Betsy Mawdsley (#90) takes part in WWCFL title celebration in 2019.

Mawdsley is looking forward to the heightened excitement that comes from playing the Riot. The Valkyries topped the Prairies Conference in the regular season with a 4-0 mark, while the Riot finished second in the conference with a 2-2 record.

The Valkyries and Riot last met in the post-season in the 2019 WWCFL final that Saskatoon claimed 25-3 in Regina.  Saskatoon has won its last 25 games overall including two forfeit victories.

The Riot handed the Valkyries their last loss way back on June 24, 2018 by at 14-10 final in Regina in that year’s WWCFL final. That result allowed the Riot to cap a perfect 7-0 campaign in 2018.

Sunday’s encounter will also mark the first time the Riot and Valkyries have gone head-to-head in a playoff game in Saskatoon since June 19, 2016, when the Valkyries prevailed 29-14 in the Prairie Conference final. Eyolfson threw four touchdown passes in that game as an 18-year-old rookie.

“I really enjoy playing Regina,” said Mawdsley. “It is always a hard game.

Betsy Mawdsley (#90) make a block in the 2022 WWCFL final.

“One thing you can guarantee is if you see Regina three times in a year you’re going to see three different teams every single time. It is always a really exciting game and a really exciting week leading into it. It doesn’t matter what happened with the last game.

“You can’t sleep on them. You have to show up and get ready, because you know they’re going to show up ready and different.”

The winner of Sunday’s game between the Valkyries and Riot will face the Calgary Rage, who were 3-0 in the regular season, in the WWCFL final. On Tuesday, the WWCFL announced the Edmonton Storm had elected to forfeit the league’s Western Conference Championship game that was slated to be played either this Saturday or Sunday in Calgary.

With that announcement, the Rage advance to the WWCFL title game for the first time since 2017, when they fell to the Regina Riot in Saskatoon.

As the Prairie Conference final between the Valkyries and the Riot approaches, Mawdsley is enjoying being in the present. Once the 2023 campaign is done, she will start thinking about potential plans for 2024.

“I want to say it is not my last year, but it also realistically could be,” said Mawdsley. “I think one of the things Pat (Barry) always says is enjoy every moment.

Betsy Mawdsley will decide in the off-season about returning in 2024.

“You don’t know when it is your last game, and that is what I’m trying to do. I’m lucky to have played as long as I have and hope that I get to keep showing up year after year.”

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------

If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.