HIGH ACHIEVERS: Ottawa Women’s Football Hawks U18 team records unprecedented flag football season

By Martin Cleary

Today, they’re Canadian and Ontario girls’ U18 club flag football champions.

Tomorrow, some of the players could be running patterns, catching balls and scoring touchdowns for Canada at the Summer Olympic Games.

Flag football will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles and the talented girls from the Ottawa Women’s Football Hawks U18 youth program are on the cutting edge of being in the mix to represent Canada at the five-ring circus.

Hawks U18 head coach Stephanie Thinn and Jori Ritchie co-founded Ottawa Women’s Football in 2019. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the age-group and adult flag football programs have been running strong and filling a void.

“We started it out of necessity. We needed flag football in Ottawa,” Thinn said in a recent phone interview. “It’s something different, new … a more valued-added opportunity for the kids.”

“Flag football has been in the works for a while to get into the Olympics and there’s no better way to start than at the grassroots.”

While flag football has been a small part of the Ottawa sports fabric for a number of years, Thinn and Ritchie have strengthened its community profile, especially since it was welcomed into the Olympic family in October, 2023. (At the same time, the Olympic movement added T20 cricket, lacrosse (sixes), baseball/softball and squash to the Los Angeles Games schedule.)

A version of North American tackle football, international flag football has four downs, is non-contact and ‘tackles’ are made by a defensive player removing one of the two ‘flags’ strapped to the waist of the offensive, ball-carrying player.

The games are played on a field measuring 25 yards by 70 yards. The five-against-five games run 45 minutes, covering two 20-minute halves and a five-minute halftime.

Ottawa Women’s Football has multiple streams. The Hawks competitive program includes U14 boys, mixed, U16 and U18 girls and senior women. The youth mixed recreational stream, which operates as part of the NFL Flag Football program, includes the 6U, 8U, 10U, 12U and 14U levels. The players receive an NFL branded uniform, shorts and a T-shirt, learn from trained coaches and compete in a fun atmosphere.

And the adult recreational division has mixed and women’s groups. The women’s teams have attracted young mothers and players from many different sports.

For the 2024 spring/summer season, where games were played at Algonquin College, Kaladar Park and Ridgemont High School, the Ottawa Women’s Football program attracted more than 500 players. There were five elite youth teams as well as 26 adult teams.

The fall/winter season will be staged at the Ottawa Megadome.

“Oh man, the league has exceeded our expectations,” Thinn said. “We could not do it without our volunteers, their help and commitment. The goal is to build our community … and inclusivity.”

The league also has received plenty of support from its elite players, who often assist coaches in the younger age groups.

Ottawa Women’s Football had an exceptional 2024 spring/summer season through its Hawks’ elite teams.

The Hawks girls’ U18 team went undefeated, capturing the Ottawa, Ontario and Canadian championships. The Hawks girls’ 17U team was the gold medallist at the Ontario Summer Games.

The championship season started with the Ottawa qualifying tournament and the Hawks girls’ 17U team won all its games against teams from the National Capital Amateur Football Association. In 2023, NCAFA, which is primarily a tackle football league, had more than 1,300 participants on 108 girls, boys and open flag football teams.

At the Ontario flag football championships, the U18 Hawks were unbeaten in their five, 20-minute games, which led to the provincial title.

At the 2024 club flag nationals, the Hawks rolled through their round-robin games, posting four victories – defeating Angels Lanaudiere 20-6, Voltigeurs College Bourget 26-7, Team B.C. 38-0 and Team Saskatchewan 23-0.

The Hawks were equally successful in the playoffs as they shut out HMFF Hamilton Falcons 25-0 in the semifinals and Team Saskatchewan 19-13 in the gold-medal game.

At the Ontario Summer Games, the Hawks 17U squad went 5-0 as the Northeast Zone representative and claimed the gold medal.

The Canadian championship victory allowed the Hawks program to become the first Ottawa team to win city, provincial and national titles as well as the Ontario Summer Games gold medal in a single season.

“We were ecstatic for the athletes for what they did in a short time,” added Thinn, who will return as the head coach of the Ontario girls’ U18 team for a second straight year in 2025. “We were absolutely thrilled. It has never been done before.”

Thinn understands why the Hawks U18 team has been so successful this season.

“They work hard,” she said about the team, which has had players transfer to flag football from tackle football, track and field, basketball and other sports. “They truly enjoy being together. Everyone works hard and develops friendships.

“They have routines, are disciplined and are great supporters of one another.”

The Hawks also had a team in the U16 girls’ draw at the Canadian championships. They finished sixth with one win and two losses. In their quarterfinal, the Hawks lost 25-6 to Angels Lanaudiere.

The members of the Hawks U18 triple-championship team were: Bridget Zavitske, quarterback/offensive captain; Clare Moss, wide receiver; Maya Levy, centre; Teagan Roy, wide receiver/running back; Soraya Bard, wide receiver/running back/offensive captain; Eleonore Brunelle, defensive back; Charley Toivonen, defensive back/defensive captain; Cate O’Brien, defensive back/wide receiver/defensive captain; Maddy Gallinger, defensive back; and Hazel, blitz/rush.

The Ontario Summer Games lineup had Sage Royce, quarterback/offensive captain; Izabella Do-Pilon, wide receiver; Cameron Grant, defensive back; Moss, Levi, Bard, Brunelle, Toivonen, O’Brien and Hazel.

Flag football is growing throughout North America as the L.A. Olympics approach.

The National Capital Secondary School Athletic Association introduced flag football to its Ottawa high school varsity sports calendar for girls in the spring of 2024. Thinn made a presentation about the values of flag football and convinced the NCSSAA to switch from touch football.

The American-based National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has 22 universities playing flag football, including Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kansas. The Atlantic East Conference, an NCAA division III group, anticipates offering women’s varsity flag football in the spring of 2025.

Thinn hopes women’s flag football could be part of the U Sports varsity calendar in Canada within three years.