Benne blazes in female football

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This article was published 08/07/2020 (2132 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Get out your party snacks, because Women’s Wednesday Night Football is coming to town.

Westman athlete Taylor Benne just became one of the first women in Canada to land a spot in the most elite rank of women’s professional tackle football.

Next year, the Women’s Football League Association will host its inaugural season. Benne, 26, will gear up for the San Diego Tridents, one of 32 teams in the brand-new league. She was handpicked and scouted by the team earlier this year.

“Instead of there only being the NFL, now there’s the WFLA, which is literally the exact same thing. It’s the National Football League, but for women,” Benne said.

Her accomplishment has been years in the making.

Benne began playing football with Winnipeg Wolfpack of the Western Canadian Women’s Football League in 2013. In 2015, the wide-receiver upped her training by spending a season in the Manitoba Major Football League. She started with the Eastside Eagles but transferred over to the Transcona Nationals, where she felt more supported as the only female in the league.

“I was just going in wanting to come out better, faster, stronger, and just a more elite athlete than I was before. I definitely got that out of it, I went from playing with women to six-foot plus men. It wasn’t easy by any means, but I did exactly what I was there to do.”

While she achieved her goal, Benne dealt with a lot of negativity along the way. Fans would hurl insults and shout at her to get off the field, saying she didn’t belong. Some athletes refused to play on the same line — simply because she was a woman. Even some coaches were furious a female was on their team, and refused to train her.

“It’s shocking, some of the negativity other people could bring to a woman trying to play a man-dominated sport. I never listened and thank God I never did, because I’ve made it as a pro athlete.”

The WFLA’s website states it will be the first professional women’s football league to pay its athletes, promising all footballers a fair wage. In a world where female athletes are historically underpaid in comparison to their male counterparts, it’s a step in the right direction.

It’s a dream come true for Benne, who never thought she’d see this day come.

“Working towards something that’s your passion, that you love so much and then you’re given the opportunity to have a fair salary while doing it? This is just a huge moment for women in sports, let alone women playing a full contact sport.”

While Benne loves the heavy-hitting nature of the football, she was sidelined last year after shattering her pinky finger in the first practice of the Wolfpack’s 2019 season. After multiple consultations with doctors in Brandon, Benne drove to Winnipeg and was booked for emergency reconstruction surgery at the Health Sciences Centre. She was in a cast for four months, then began physiotherapy to regain motion of her pinky.

She’s still working through a small wrist problem — a result of wearing a cast for so long. Besides that, Benne is feeling strong, healthy and continues to train in Shilo in preparation for the 2021 season.

She and her partner Brad, a member of the Canadian Armed Forces, have been living in Shilo for the past two years. With the WFLA’s first game scheduled for early May, Benne has to report for training in early February, at the latest.

Brad is completely supportive of Benne’s big move, looking forward to visiting California whenever he can.

“He actually made a joke when we first started talking about it seriously and said, ‘How, as a military personnel, could I ever tell you that you can’t take a few months out of the year to move away to do something that you’re passionate about, something that you love that is now going to be your job?’”

Starting in May, all games will be streamed via pay-per-view every Wednesday night, which the league is dubbing “Women’s Wednesday Night Football.”

“Brad said they’re going to have little football watch parties in Shilo, it’ll be nice that the community can come out and see my games,” said Benne.

Joining Benne in the WFLA are Winnipeg Wolfpack teammates, Breanne Ward and Hanna McEwen, a pair of Winnipeg residents who were drafted by the Denver Gold Rush.

» dshewchuk@brandonsun.com 

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