The footprints of the Manitoba Girls Football Association (MGFA) – the first full contact program for girls in North America – can be seen all across the sport’s landscape in the province.
Proud alums have gone on to play senior women’s football for the Manitoba Fearless and Winnipeg Wolfpack, along with representing Canada on the national stage and giving back to the game in numerous ways.
The MGFA (more details here), which celebrated its ten-year anniversary two seasons ago, is offered in the spring annually and is for girls aged 10-17.
The six-a-side game was where Alexa St. Jean first got the itch for the sport. That love for the game hasn’t left her since.
“I actually started because my brother played football. His coach nonstop bugged me saying you should play football, but I played high level hockey, so playing with the boys in the fall, that didn’t fit my schedule. When the girls started and it was in the spring, I was like oh I can do this actually,” she recalls.
“I loved football from that point on. I went on to Fearless for a couple of years and transitioned to coaching when I couldn’t play anymore. It’s been seven seasons coaching MGFA, boys, flag, kind of everything.”
St. Jean started playing in the MGFA in 2012 for St. Vital, making her one of the earliest ambassadors for the league. A stickler for the details, she was a perfect fit at quarterback, which she began playing in her third contest that first season.
“Thinking, making decisions and reading plays, that’s how my brain works, being able to see what’s happening down field. That also comes from playing hockey. I played defence, so I visualize a lot, and see plays developing and what’s going to happen.”
St. Jean was part of championship three-peat with the Mustangs, including 2016, the final year she and the “core four” participated in the MGFA. Afterwards, she suited up for the Fearless and also played flag football for Team Manitoba.
Nowadays, you can see her coaching up the next generation, whether it’s with the Fearless as quarterbacks coach, or flag and anything in between.
Last season, she helped mentor MGFA alum Madi Siwicki as the Fearless won their first-ever playoff game and advanced to the league final.
It’s a special feeling. When St. Jean was younger, she didn’t have a role model to look up to at the position. Giving back provides a full-circle moment, a reminder of where she’s come from.
“I almost enjoy it more than playing. I’ve watched Madi come up in the MGFA, I played against her when she started quarterback in MGFA and I remember watching her then and being like this kid is going to be good, because I can see the way she reads the field,” she says.
“It’s a whole different perspective. I know what she’s going through and she gives me perspectives that I didn’t even think about. I didn’t have anyone to look up to that was an older quarterback. I came in and was always the only quarterback on my team, so it’s nice to be there for someone else.”
‘A very full circle moment’
As you can see above, St. Jean stays busy. The game has given her so much, and it’s only right to give back.
Last season, she led Team Manitoba’s girls team into the Canada Cup, and she’ll do the same this summer, alongside Team Canada and Manitoba Fearless lineman Julie Sprague.
The pair shared countless memories together in the MGFA, knowing their trajectories in the sport could’ve been drastically different without it.
“If it wasn’t for starting that league, I would not be here, and some of the girls I’ve coached, like [quarterback] Madi [Siwicki], [receiver] Morgan [Moffatt], seeing them, they deserve this,” said an emotional Sprague shortly after making Team Canada.
“Without that league, there would be girls who are lost, because some sports are lame, and they deserve it.”
When Lisa Zueff-Cummings, the heart and soul of women’s football in Manitoba, and commissioner Maggie Yestrau stepped back after many years of admirable service, St. Jean and Sprague knew they needed to step up.
It’s for this reason that St. Jean is now the president of the MGFA, while Sprague is the registrar. With their leadership, women’s football is in good hands.
“It’s a very full circle moment,” says St. Jean.
“When Julie and I realized that Zueff was going off the board and that Maggie was stepping down, we both looked at each other and said we can’t let this league die. It meant so much to us growing up. It gave us opportunities that no one else has in a lot of provinces. Going in, it was almost a no-brainer to help grow the league some more and get it back to where it was before COVID, and to make sure that these girls still have the opportunity to play just girls, and not have to play with the boys all the time.”
This season, the Falcons Football Club is fielding a senior women’s team for the first time, and the game is growing in the Interlake and other areas as well. With the success of previous alums and the passion St. Jean and Sprague have for the game, the sky is the limit for where the sport can go for girls.
“When I started, we had four teams who played on half fields. You didn’t even have two endzones. Before COVID we had seven senior teams, four junior teams. Zueff really put in the work to market it to players and to girls. A lot of the girls too now, have proven that they can go, and they play with the boys and they start in high school. That’s a big part of getting more exposure, proving that girls can go out and do it the same as the boys.”