Homecoming at the Methanex Bowl
Western Women’s Canadian Football League game to feature a trio of Hat players Saturday
It’s been years since Becky Heninger last saw the Methanex Bowl.
Kellsey Mahon never even played there, before or after its massive renovations.
On Saturday, both women will line up on opposite sides of the ball in an unexpected, historic homecoming game.
“I haven’t seen it, it’s been a long time,” said Heninger, part of the class of 2005 from Hat High. “I’m pretty excited.”
Heninger starred as a basketball player a dozen years ago, but now she’s a quarterback for the Calgary Rage of the Western Women’s Canadian Football League. At 1:30 p.m. Saturday, her team meets the Lethbridge Steel — including fellow Hat High alumnus Mahon and 2006 Crescent Heights grad Mandy Dion — in the first-ever WWCFL regular season game here.
It was supposed to be an exhibition game between Calgary and Regina for the third year in a row, but Grande Prairie’s team folded and Lethbridge needed to make up one of its two lost games as a result.
It’s an opportunity the Hat-born players are looking forward to.
“Honestly I just like contact sports,” said Mahon, who got started after graduating high school in 2012 despite never having played before. “I was happy to play rugby and when I got the opportunity to play football I was happy to play football.
“A friend asked if I wanted to play. I came out, liked it and lived in Medicine Hat for the summer, drove three times a week for practices.”
Fans can expect two sides who won’t have had any sort of exhibition to iron out the kinks, and probably a dozen or so raw rookies. They’ll also see veterans of the league including the Hat women.
In addition to the Rage, Heninger is a defensive back on a Canadian team which will compete in a world championship this summer, and played a few years with the Steel before moving to Calgary to become a paramedic.
“I’ve been involved in sports since I was five, did pretty much anything I could do,” she said. “I played peewee football for three years, got into junior high and that changed from football into rugby.”
She didn’t get back in to football until her university basketball career — with stops in Calgary and Lethbridge — was over. A point guard, her skill set transferred well to being a quarterback. The Steel got to the WWCFL title game twice with Heninger at the helm, and now she’s back at it facing her old club.
Mahon didn’t even watch football growing up. But the lineman loves it now, even if her team only has 21 players and could be in tough against a 40woman Calgary roster.
“We have three practices a week, probably eight hours a week,” said Mahon. “Our numbers are small; our saving grace is we have more unity than the bigger teams.
“Low numbers just means you get more reps.”
There is one other Hat connection to the game. First-year Steel coach Justin Tillery also graduated from Hat High. He’d love to see the women’s game continue to grow, possibly even into Medicine Hat after an information session about the league was held here earlier this year.
“It’s going to be a good game,” he said. “I know Calgary’s got new coaches and players, so do we. Parity around the league, at least in our conference will be pretty even. It’s whoever’s more prepared that will come out on top. It’ll be a great game and a good showcase that women can play this sport.”