Football life is natural fit for Valkyries’ Schenn

Sydney Schenn has become a Valkyries mainstay at OLB.

Sydney Schenn seemed predestined to play football due to her family’s links to the game.

Growing up in Moosomin, Sask., her father, Jason, coached the sport and is the general manager and president for Moosomin Generals minor football program. Her older brother, Wyatt, and younger brother, TJ, were both players. Schenn’s mother, Janelle, supported the family members in all their pursuits.

Schenn enjoyed getting into rough stuff with her brothers, which ultimately led her dad suggestion she join the football team. She joined the Generals program in Grade 6 and found the sport to be a natural fit.

“I liked the physicality and the aggression,” said Schenn. “I was very aggressive, and I fought with my brothers all the time and we wrestled.

“I could do it on the field instead of being in trouble in the house.”

These days Schenn is a 21-year-old linebacker with the powerhouse Saskatoon Valkyries of the Western Women’s Canadian Football League. Now in her third season with the team, Schenn has become a mainstay at outside linebacker.

On Sunday, Schenn and the Valkyries (5-0 overall) will play in the WWCFL Championship Game against their provincial rivals the Regina Riot (3-2 overall) at 7:30 p.m. at Leibel Field in Regina. Schenn has helped the Valkyries win the WWCFL title in each of the past two years.

Last Sunday, Schenn had a huge outing at Saskatoon Minor Football Field as the Valkyries romped over the Manitoba Fearless 48-14 in a WWCFL semifinal. She recorded seven total tackles, one interception and one fumble recovery.

Sydney Schenn makes a physical hit for the Valkyries.

“I feel like I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable, and I feel more comfortable on the field,” said Schenn, who stands 5-foot-9. “I played nine-a-side in Moosomin, so moving to 12 was really different.

“I feel like I can figure out the game a lot more in 12-a-side better now in my third year.”

In Moosomin, Schenn played linebacker and defensive back, while also handling duties as a long snapper. She took the field for the Generals male teams from Grade 6 through to Grade 12 and suited up for the Generals under-18 female team when it was formed in 2018. With both the male and female programs, Schenn became a star player who piled up a number of awards and accolades.

Originally, Schenn elected to join the Riot in 2020 and play with them while she was still in high school. That campaign was ultimately cancelled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that gripped the world.

Right after graduating from McNaughton High School in Moosomin, Schenn played for the Riot in their three-game exhibition series against the Valkyries in July of 2021, when the all sports leagues in Canada started to take the first steps forward to resuming regular operation. She began studying in the psychology program at the University of Regina away from the game.

On the football field, Schenn started to wonder if she would find better chemistry with a new team.  

“I didn’t feel like I fit well with the Riot,” said Schenn. “I still wanted to play football, so I decided I was going to find somewhere else I could play.

Sydney Schenn gets to a ball carrier behind the line of scrimmage.

“I have a whole bunch of family here (in Saskatoon), so it was easier that I could just live with family.”

Schenn joined the Valkyries for the start of the 2022 campaign. She continued to pursue her studies at the U of R, but lives in Saskatoon when the Valkyries football season is on.

Valkyries head coach Pat Barry was happy to see Schenn join the team and already bring a sizable wealth of experience in the tackle game. 

A lot of the Valkyries newcomers join the team from the female flag football in Saskatoon. The fall of 2023 saw Saskatoon Minor Football roll out organized female tackle football for the city for players of high school age.

“Sydney comes from Moosomin, so she has played football for a long time,” said Barry. “She is a heavy tackler, and she is a physical player.

“She is really thriving in (defensive coordinator) Wyatt Carleton’s defence. We’re really impressed with how she is doing things in our thirty defence right now.”

While Schenn had a lot of experience in the game, Barry said the standout linebacker has grown a lot since joining the Saskatoon side.

“She has come like a huge distance,” said Barry. “She was a teenager when she first came to us.

Sydney Schenn (#57) tracks down a receiver downfield.

“Now as a young woman and an athlete, she is showing a lot of leadership and physical play. It is really great to have her on our team.”

With the Valkyries, Schenn found the chemistry she was looking for.

“They are such a hyped group,” said Schenn. “They’re great.

“It is just the best team environment that I’ve been a part of.”

One of Schenn’s most memorable moments came when the Valkyries won the WWCFL title game in her first season. In that title game clash played on June 25, 2022 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, the Valkyries romped past the Fearless 36-6.

“That was my first championship as a player,” said Schenn. “Throughout my nine years in Moosomin, I never won a championship, so that was pretty cool to actually win a (title) game and go undefeated and actually win a championship.”

Now, Schenn wants to be part of another WWCFL title win with the Valkyries. 

Looking to the future, Schenn said she would like to play with the Valkyries for as long as she can, but she admits life opportunities that come away from the game will play a factor when it comes to staying with the club for a longer term.

“I’m not sure where life is going to take me after my undergrad,” said Schenn. “At least (I will play) maybe one more year.

Sydney Schenn (#57) enjoys playing football with the Valkyries.

“We’ll see if I go for my masters or where I go after that.”

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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Sweet social memories hanging with veterans

A gun salute at a Remembrance Day in Medicine Hat in 2008.

When every Remembrance Day comes around, I always wonder what happened to Peggy Ellis.

Ellis was a short-hand hand typist for the British Army during the Second World War. I met her in November of 1997 at the Army, Navy & Air Force Veterans club located on Broad Street in Regina, Sask.

I was putting together a Remembrance Day story for the features class I was taking at the University of Regina’s School of Journalism and Communications. The first meeting ended up being a very impromptu social one.

I got to see her one other time about a year later at that same veterans club, when I was working on another war related story. Once again, a great social encounter ensued.

It is quite obvious that those meetings were very enjoyable from my end, because I still remember Ellis all these years later.

Having been born and raised in England, she came over to Canada as a war bride of a Canadian military man to go along with the fact she was a military veteran. Ellis eventually ended up relocating to Regina with her husband, Jack.

I remember she told me during that first meeting that Jack had passed away a few years back.

At the time we first met, I was 21-years-old and she was in great shape at age 75. Ellis was 17-years-old when the Second World War started and had turned 23-years-old when it ended.

Even as young as I was back then, I always believed you should treat veterans of the First World War and the Second World War with the utmost respect. I viewed them as the greatest generation that had to make sacrifices even people at the time I met Ellis in 1997 and to the current day wouldn’t be able to do.

When I met Ellis, I saw veterans as being stoic and principled.

It didn’t occur to me they could be sociable and fun loving in a relaxed social setting like most everyone else in society.

Veterans march at Remembrance Day in Medicine Hat in 2008.

I interviewed Ellis and one other Second World War veteran for my story, and proceeded to hang out at Ellis’s table for some social time during that first meeting. It was just something that was spontaneous and happened.

Over a couple of alcoholic drinks, we talked about all sorts of old stories. The veterans also teased me the a little bit, which created a number of laughs too. I knew it was all in fun.

The discussion drifted a little bit to what happened in war time. Ellis talked about what it was like to live through the Battle of Britain in 1940, when the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom against large scale attacks by Nazi Germany’s air force.

She mentioned she got to transmit the order to start the Allied invasion of Normandy, which is often referred to as D-Day, in June of 1944.

The vast majority of talk revolved around life after the war including the joy of watching children grow up, fun trips that were taken to various travel destinations, recollections from working world life and memories of various social functions over the years.

From the crew Ellis hung out with, you got a sense that life was well lived and enjoyed after the Second World War came to an end.

It might sound weird, but during that visit, I didn’t see those veterans as being that different from the young university crowd I was part of at that time.

When I got into a more serious reflective alone time back then, it did hit me that those veterans were all around the same age as me in 1997 when they were fighting the Second World War. Due to when I was born, I was fortunate enough that I didn’t have to go through that.

Hearing the social time stories from those veterans, it actually made me see similarities in my young generation to their generation, and it did hit you in new way that it was crazy in what they had to deal with.

Overall, the visit with Ellis and her crew was fun, and I made a note in my mind to take part in those social gatherings in the future. I figured it was always wise to take advantage of any opportunity to hang out with a Second World War veteran, when those opportunities presented themselves.

Standing at attention at Remembrance Day in Medicine Hat in 2008.

I remember Ellis and her crew telling me they really liked the reunion aspect of Remembrance Day. After the morning ceremonies were complete, some of the greatest times were the social gatherings that followed the rest of the day.

Due to how busy life could get, Remembrance Day allowed them that one day each year they could all get together and see each other.

As years went on, I tried to ensure I made Remembrance Day services, and at least twice during the 10 years I lived in Medicine Hat, Alta., I made it to social gatherings that were held after the services.

When I was at one of those gatherings in 2008 in Medicine Hat, I was hanging with two younger military veterans that day, and they were telling me the veterans from the Second World War were starting to pass away in bigger numbers due to old age.

One year earlier in the summer of 2007, I visited with my uncle Sid and auntie Joanna Sargent in Penticton, B.C. Sid was a veteran of the Second World War.

My auntie Marie Corrigal arrived for that family get together, and I remember Sid talking about the social gatherings that happened in Canada before going overseas for war during the era of the Second World War.

I had never heard those stories before, but I got a chuckle out of them.

As the Second World War veterans pass on, you worry that some of these stories might get lost over time.

Today, I decided to Google search Peggy Ellis’s name. I found her obituary that ran in the Regina Leader-Post.

Margaret “Peggy” Ellis passed away on May 1, 2018 at age 95 and a few months shy of her 96^th birthday in August of that year. I saw a note in the obituary that she was predeceased by Jack in 1989.

The piece said she was involved with the Army, Navy & Air Force Veterans Association for 41 years and was honoured for her dedication and commitment.

A moment of silence at Remembrance Day in Medicine Hat in 2008.

It made me smile knowing Ellis lived for another 21 years after we first met.

I was happy I got to take part in those two social gatherings at the Army, Navy, & Air Force Veterans club with her and her crew. I got to see things in a way I had never seen before.

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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