Maritime Women's Football League

The Maritime Women's Football League (MWFL) is a Canadian football league in eastern Canada. It was Canada's first all-female full-contact football competition when it began operating in 2004.

Since it was established, the League has grown from two to four teams. They hail from the three major cities of New Brunswick (Fredericton, Moncton, and Saint John) along with a team from Halifax, Nova Scotia.[1] A fifth team, on Prince Edward Island, played in the 2019 MWFL season before the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]

The current MWFL title holders are the Halifax Xplosion and Saint John Storm, who tied the 2022 championship game in triple overtime and shared the title.[3]

Teams
  • Fredericton Nissan Lady Gladiators Fredericton New Brunswick (Team Website)
  • Halifax Xplosion Halifax Nova Scotia
  • Saint John Storm Saint John New Brunswick
  • Moncton Vipers Moncton New Brunswick
  • PEI Island Demons Prince Edward Island, Canada (on hiatus)

History

The league was founded in 2004 as the New Brunswick Women’s Football League, NBWFL. In 2006, it changed to its present name, the MWFL, when Halifax joined the competition.[1]

Football Canada wrote, "With many obstacles to overcome the growth of the league was slow and at times discouraging. New teams needed enough money to buy all new equipment, or share with teams."[1] The Maritime league became part of the Junior Player Development Program of Football Canada.[1]

The MWFL marked its tenth anniversary in 2014, when the season schedule was moved forward, earlier in the year, to play its seasons from April to June.[4]

Since the MWFL began, the Western Women's Canadian Football League and Central Canadian Women's Football League have also been established in other regions of the country.

Modified rules

In the MWFL, the playing field is a regulation Canadian football field, 65 yards wide, but offences are permitted four downs (rather than the usual three) to move the ball forward 10 yards. The one-yard neutral zone is the same as in regular Canadian football. Instead of 12 players per side, MWFL teams play with 11 per team according to the league's 2012 rules.[5] As of 2012, the four timed quarters are each 12 minutes long ordinarily, but 15 minutes long in the final two weeks of the regular season.[5] The league's former rules in 2007[6] stipulated that games were played with 10 players per team, in four quarters of 10 minutes each.

League champions

The league championship is known as the SupHer Bowl, while the championship trophy is known as the Judy Upward Trophy.[7]

YearChampion
2004Simmonds Seagals
2005Saint John Buccaneers
2006Capital Area Lady Gladiators
2007Capital Area Lady Gladiators[8]
2008Saint John Storm[8]
2009Moncton Vipers[8]
2010Saint John Storm[8]
2011Saint John Storm[8]
2012Moncton Vipers[8]
2013Capital Area Lady Gladiators[8]
2014Saint John Storm[9]
2015Saint John Storm[10]
2016Saint John Storm
2017Saint John Storm
2018Fredericton Nissan Lady Gladiators
2019Halifax Xplosion
2020Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021Saint John Storm
2022Halifax Xplosion & Saint John Storm (co-champions)
Championship game tied 10–10 after triple OT		[3]

References
  1. "Women and Girls Football". Football Canada. Archived from the original on Nov 22, 2021.
  2. MacMillan, Sarah. "Island Demons make home debut in women's football circuit". CBC News. Archived from the original on May 19, 2019.
  3. "Maritime Women's Football League". June 26, 2022. Halifax Xplosion and Saint John Storm fought for 3.5 hours in triple OT to a 10-10 draw.
  4. Staffieri, Mark (December 3, 2013). "MWFL looks to ride strong momentum of anniversary season into 2014". Fourth and Feminine. Archived from the original on December 29, 2013.
  5. "Maritime Women's Football League Special Rules (2012)". Football New Brunswick. Web Archive. Archived from the original on April 21, 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. "Maritime Women's Football League Special Rules (2007)". Football New Brunswick. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  7. "History - Saint John Storm Women's Tackle Football Team". Saintjohnstorm.weebly.com. Retrieved 2013-06-17.
  8. "Women's Professional Championship Games". Lucky Show. Archived from the original on Feb 22, 2020.
  9. "Storm finish undefeated season as 2014 MWFL Champions". Canada Football Chat. June 26, 2014. Archived from the original on Oct 4, 2016.
  10. "Storm post second consecutive undefeated season in Championship run". Canada Football Chat. July 6, 2015. Archived from the original on Oct 4, 2016.
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