LFL Canada is here to stay

When I arrived at the BC airport, four imposing women greeted me. They said they were free agents from America, here in Canada to play for the Regina Rage.

I played two seasons in the Lingerie Football league for the Chicago Bliss and spent last year as a reporter for the Arena Football League. I know football, but I was in unfamiliar territory. So were the four women. They seemed confident and their swagger was obvious, but all of that had to be covering up at least some butterflies. The same butterflies I was feeling. This would be my first sideline reporting gig with the Lingerie Football league. This would not be the women’s first time playing lingerie football, but it would be their first time playing lingerie football in Canada.

The girls joined me on the bus ride to the hotel. There was the leader Nikki Johnson, poised and confident. Silent Whitney Meierotto, who would knock some heads later in the evening. Cydney Froelich, the free-spirited, adaptable one. Finally, Carmen Bourseau, the observant one, also capable of knocking heads.

When we finally met up with the rest of the Regina Team at the hotel we headed to the Arena. The bus ride for the most part was pretty quite, the Americans already played in the LFL and knew what to expect. They seemed pretty relaxed and were chatting it up with one another, the Canadians didn’t know what to expect and were a little quite on the way. The one player that did stand out the most to me the minute the team walked on the bus was Kylie Rossford. She had a veteran’s demeanor and was eager to play. As we pulled up to the Stadium the girls filed out of the bus like they were on a mission.

Walking into the Stadium and on the field was so surreal, I feel like I finally made it! This was my moment. Secretly during my LFL games, when I probably should have been watching the game, I would watch Lauren Gardner on sidelines interviewing the girls to see how it is done. Lauren is the one who sparked my interest in pursuing a career in Broadcasting. So thank you Ms. Gardner.

As the girls were preparing for the game I took a peak in the BC Angels Locker room to get a feel for how the vibe was. They were fired-up, focused and ready to go, different from the quite bus ride to the Stadium with the Rage. Kick-off was at 8 and time seemed to fly once I arrived with the teams for walk troughs, broadcast rehearsals and more. Before I knew it my opening script was being delivered on the field while the BC Angles were running practice routes around me.

The National Anthem was sung and the girls were fired up for game time. The fans were lined up around the Stadium in anticipation to see exactly what the LFL had to offer? I chatted with a lot of the staff in the Arena and nearly all of them had never heard of this game. I was confident the girls were going to put on good show. The lights then died down and it was kickoff! As I was standing on the Sidelines, I almost forgot this was LFL Canada Football and not LFL US Football.
THESE GIRLS CAN PLAY.

BC Angels running back Stephanie Manou was rolling over people. Showing Canada what LFL is all about. Manou set the tone of the game. The BC Angels looked prepared and impressive; the BC ‘s defense was all over Regina’s Rage’s Kylie Rossler. The second she got the ball the Angels D was all over her like white on rice. On the flip side Kylie Rossler is a tough cookie! I was on the sidelines when the ball was a toss right to Kylie and in seconds she was pinned and tackled on the sideboards right near the bench. Rossler jumped up, brushed off her shoulders and ran back to the line for the next play. In Regina’s huddle Nikki Johnson was calling her own plays on the fly. Nikki showed great leadership on this team and possibly gave us a lesson on what it takes to be an LFL quarterback. BC quarterback Mary Ann Hanson hushed the skeptics and proved she deserves to be a part of the LFL QB Family by stepping it up and making big plays.

By half time the LFL Canada Girls had won the crowd over! They were chanting numbers and hanging over the wall cheering on their team. It was amazing. I talked to a few fans after the game. They told me how they will be back for the next game and will bring more friends. In minutes the word “Lingerie” in LFL Canada was soon forgotten and the word FOOTBALL now stood out the most. I really feel that LFL Canada will expand for years to come and the BC Angels set the tone for what fans are to expect going forward, hard hitting, hot, athletic, smart, whole hearted, no fear female Football Players. LFL Canada is here to stay!

Lastly I want to give my weekly shout outs to the BC Angels Fans for my new nickname “Sideline Girl” and to EB and JAK for all your support this week.

Sideline Girl signing off till next week!

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LFL Canada is here to stay

About Nadia Bedricky