Throughout the history of amateur football in Manitoba, there are many females who’ve been trailblazers in the sport.
From Lisa Zueff-Cummings and Lisa Klaverkamp (Manitoba Fearless originals), to Maya Turner (first female to dress and score points in U SPORTS football) and Belle Jonasson (first female to make Manitoba’s provincial tackle football team – U16), the middle province boasts a rich and proud history of female representation in the sport.
Last week, more history was made when Miles Mac senior lineman Shayla Mohamed earned the WHSFL’s John Potter/Modern Man Barber Shops Award. In doing so, Mohamed became the first female to ever receive a WHSFL major award.
“I was not expecting to win that award,” she said humbly.
“When I think back on it, I want the younger generation of girls to see and realize that as long as you’re putting that effort in, as long as you’re working to not only better yourself, but your team, then you will get noticed for that and you will be successful.”
Mohamed’s football journey this year has been exceptional.
The only female on the Buckeyes’ roster in 2023, she was thrust into the starting centre role during the first game of the season. Usually a defensive lineman, her only experience at centre had been for Manitoba’s U18 girls team, where she snapped for two drives due to injuries.
Mohamed embraced the challenge, handling snapping duties for the remainder of the year.
“Don’t be scared. At the very beginning of the season I played scared, because obviously it’s big guys that you’re going against. I’m like 5’3” and they’re 6’3”. But don’t let your size define you as a player. My aha moment was our Springfield game,” she recalled.
“Before I was always asking our other linemen, this is the way we’re going? We use a bunch of words in our play-calling and I get distracted so easily. There was one play where the guard I usually always ask, he was injured. I thought, I have to hold my own, especially because we have a new player in at guard and they don’t necessarily know what they’re doing. That’s when I was like oh my gosh, I know what I’m doing. I don’t have to depend on anyone else, I’ve got this.”
On top of starting at the 4A WHSFL level – the highest level of high school ball in the city – Mohamed also took the time to give back, like she’s been doing for years. She coached cruncher and atom teams for her club, East Side, and she also assists with the newcomers to Canada football program.
“When you’re coaching other kids, you start to realize what you can do better as a player as well. It’s eye opening. If I’m telling these kids to do it I should be doing it too to set an example for them,” said Mohamed.
“Another thing for me, is I started playing co-ed football when I was ten. At that time there weren’t very many female coaches. I had a hard time opening up to the male coaches about hey, I have to go to the bathroom, or simple stuff like that. For me, coaching out there for little girls that want to come play, it’s easier with a female coach around.”
Mohamed will continue playing football after high school. The MGFA recently changed their age limit to 18, so she’ll finish her last year there and is likely to play in the Western Women’s Canadian Football League afterwards.
She takes many memories away from her time with Miles Mac. But above all else, she’s thankful for the connections she’s made along the way.
“I made a lot of friends on the team. I would even call them my brothers. [Running back] Nate Malcolm, he played on my atom team when I was ten when I first started. I’ve known him for a long time,” she noted.
“They all brought me under their wing and made it so that I was comfortable with them. They taught me things I didn’t know, and they even talked to me outside of football. It’s really that social life.”