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Winnipeg Wolfpack
Team logo
Founded2011
Based inWinnipeg, Manitoba
Home fieldIG Field
Head coachKris Scoran
LeagueWWCFL
DivisionPrairie
Colours   
League titles0
Conference titles0
Websitewww.winnipegwolfpack.com

The Winnipeg Wolfpack are a women's football club in the Western Women's Canadian Football League's (WWCFL) Prairie Conference. The Wolfpack are based in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Team history

[edit]

The Wolfpack were loosely organized for a number of years before the formulation of the WWCFL in 2011. Playing out of Nomads Field and affiliated with the Nomads Football Club, where a number of the women coached boys teams, the Wolfpack (at the time stylized as "Wolf Pack") would occasionally travel to Alberta to compete against the Edmonton Storm, Calgary Rockies, and Lethbridge Steel;[1] those three teams together formed the Alberta Female Football League in 2011, the first move to establish stronger organization for women's football in western Canada. The Wolf Pack also traveled to play the Minnesota Vixen in the United States.[1] With the establishment of the WWCFL in 2011, the club formally established the North Winnipeg Nomads Wolf Pack to compete in the new league's Prairie Conference along with their crosstown rivals, the Manitoba Fearless, and new teams in Regina and Saskatoon. The team was coached by Richard Dudeck and former Winnipeg Blue Bombers Mike Hameluck and Glen Schapansky.[2]

Winnipeg was winless in the WWCFL's inaugural season, dropping both of its games against the Fearless.[3] The team opted to forfeit its first-round playoff match against the Saskatoon Valkyries, having lost the regular season match-up by a score of 78–6.[4] However, the Wolfpack quickly improved and consistently got the best of their local rivals over the next six seasons, finishing below Manitoba in the standings only once. They lost their first playoff match, against the Regina Riot, in 2012.[5] Although the Wolfpack went undefeated against the Fearless for three-straight seasons from 2013 to 2015, they found themselves unable to advance past either Regina or Saskatoon in the playoffs as those two teams captured each season's WWCFL Championship.

A bright spot for the Wolfpack was the play of young players like, Alexa Matwyczuk, who quit the wolfpack in the 2013 season and did not play that year. Was one of three members of the club named to the Canadian national team ahead of the 2013 IFAF Women's World Championship,[6] and Breanne Ward, one of five members of the Wolfpack who joined Team Canada in 2017.[7]

The Wolfpack hosted the WWCFL Championship in 2015 at IG Field.[8] In the game, the Riot won their first WWCFL title, defeating the Storm by a score of 53–6.[9]

The Wolfpack have struggled in recent years, failing to win a game in four straight seasons as the Fearless gained the upper hand in the local rivalry, even advancing to the WWCFL Championship Final for the first time in 2022.[10] The Wolfpack paused operations ahead of the 2024 WWCFL season.[11]

Year by year

[edit]
= Indicates Division Title (regular season)
= Indicates Conference Title
= Indicates League Championship
Season League Conf. W L Conf. standing Playoff result Ref.
2011 WWCFL Prairie 0 4 4th Forfeit Conference Semifinal vs. Saskatoon Valkyries [3]
2012 WWCFL Prairie 1 3 4th Lost Conference Semifinal, 25–7 vs. Regina Riot [5]
2013 WWCFL Prairie 2 2 3rd Did not qualify [12]
2014 WWCFL Prairie 2 2 3rd Lost Conference Semifinal, 27–13 vs. Regina Riot [13]
2015 WWCFL Prairie 2 2 3rd Lost Conference Semifinal, 66–7 vs. Saskatoon Valkyries [14]
2016 WWCFL Prairie 1 3 3rd Lost Conference Semifinal, 59–7 vs. Regina Riot [15]
2017 WWCFL Prairie 1 3 3rd Did not qualify [16]
2018 WWCFL Prairie 0 4 4th Did not qualify [17]
2019 WWCFL Prairie 0 4 4th Lost Quarterfinal, 66–0 vs. Saskatoon Valkyries [18]
2020 WWCFL Prairie Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic [19]
2021 WWCFL Prairie Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022 WWCFL Prairie 0 4 4th Forfeit Quarterfinal vs. Saskatoon Valkyries [20]
2023 WWCFL Prairie 0 4 4th Forfeit Quarterfinal vs. Saskatoon Valkyries [21]
2024 WWCFL Prairie – – — Did not play
Totals (2011–2023) 9 35

IFAF competitors

[edit]

The following lists women from the Winnipeg Wolfpack who have competed in the IFAF Women's World Championship as members of Team Canada.

2010 2013[22] 2017[23]
  • Christine O'Donnell
  • Amy Mohr
  • Christine O'Donnell
  • Alexa Matwyczuk
  • Alyssa Buckland
  • Jill Fast
  • Mubo Ilelaboye
  • Christine O'Donnell
  • Breanne Ward

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Lunney, Dough (2012-03-26). "Women eager to tackle new football challenge". Winnipeg Sun. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  2. ^ Lunney, Dough (2012-03-26). "Women eager to tackle new football challenge". Winnipeg Sun. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  3. ^ a b "WWCFL - Schedule/Standings/Results". WWCFL. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  4. ^ Mitchell, Kevin (2011-07-02). "Winnipeg forfeits playoff game against Valkyries". Saskatoon StarPhoenix. Retrieved 2023-07-16 – via pressreader.
  5. ^ a b Harder, Greg (2012-06-24). "Regina Riot ready for rematch". Regina Leader-Post. Retrieved 2023-07-16 – via WWCFL.
  6. ^ Staffieri, Mark (2013-04-28). "Alexa Matwyczuk a Future Superstar in the Making for the WWCFL". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  7. ^ Tait, Ed (2017-05-18). "Women's Football - A Growing Game". Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  8. ^ Story, Jared (2015-06-23). "Wolfpack to invade IGF". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  9. ^ Jamie, Harkins (2015-07-15). "Locals lead Riot to historic win". Sask Today. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  10. ^ Mitchell, Kevin (2022-06-26). "'I couldn't be prouder': Valkyries cap off unbeaten season with championship celebration". Saskatoon StarPhoenix. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  11. ^ Davis, Darrell (2024-06-11). "Regina Riot ready for women's football playoffs ... finally". Regina Leader-Post. Archived from the original on 2024-06-11. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  12. ^ "WWCFL - Schedule/Results". WWCFL. Archived from the original on 2013-12-04. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  13. ^ Rice, Don (2014-06-16). "Valkyries advance to final with easy win". Saskatoon StarPhoenix. Retrieved 2023-07-16 – via WWCFL.
  14. ^ Harder, Greg (2015-06-22). "Riot ready for rematch with rival Valkyries". Regina Leader-Post. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  15. ^ Rice, Don (2016-06-12). "Five touchdowns on five touches for Friesen in Valkyrie romp". Saskatoon StarPhoenix. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  16. ^ "2017 Schedule". WWCFL. Archived from the original on 2017-11-13. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  17. ^ "2018 Results". WWCFL. Archived from the original on 2018-10-10. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  18. ^ "2019 Results". WWCFL. Archived from the original on 2021-05-18. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  19. ^ Lazaruk, Les (2020-03-30). "WWCFL Cancels 10th Anniversary Season Due to COVID-19 Pandemic". CJWW. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  20. ^ "2022 WWCFL Results". WWCFL. Archived from the original on 2022-08-09. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  21. ^ "2023 WWCFL Schedule". WWCFL. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  22. ^ "Team Canada". IFAF Women's World Championship. Archived from the original on 2013-11-17. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
  23. ^ "Football Canada Unveils 2017 Women's National Team Roster". Football Canada. 2017-01-14. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
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