Saskatoon Valkyries win fifth WWCFL title in six seasons by a crazy 81-6 score

While many are hoping the CFL's Saskatchewan Roughriders will turn things around this year following a 3-15 2015 campaign, there's another football team in the province that's already showing insane levels of dominance. That would be the Saskatoon Valkyries, who won their fifth Western Women's Canadian Football League title in the league's six years of existence Saturday, and did so in emphatic fashion, beating the Edmonton Storm 81-6. Their dominance is an impressive story, and it's part of a larger picture that has seen signifcant growth and stability in Canadian women's tackle football.

It's important to emphasize that the WWCFL is serious football, which gives it much more credibility than the Lingerie Football League (now the Legends Football League)'s ill-advised and brief expansion into Canada a few years back. This is a 12-a-side league with Canadian Amateur Football Association rules (mostly similar to the CFL's), full uniforms and full-contact football, and it's one that has survived five full seasons and now has eight teams, most of which have been around since the beginning.

There's substantial fan support for a lot of these teams, too, especially the Valkyries, but it's worth noting that they're not always head and shoulders above the league. In fact, they went 3-1 in the regular season with a 27-26 loss to the Regina Riot (who last year became the only non-Valkyries team to win a WWCFL championship) at the Roughriders' home of Mosaic Stadium on May 28. Meanwhile, the Storm went 4-0 in the regular season and posted impressive 37-0 and 14-4 wins to advance to the championship. They weren't even close to the Valkyries' level on the day, but their season was significant too. This was Saskatoon's day, though, and a great moment for them as they reclaimed the championship. Here's a video of the team accepting the trophy:

It's good to see that the WWCFL and the Valkyries have managed to survive and thrive long after the LFL's controversial arrival in and subsequent exit from Canada. That league's still playing in the U.S., but hasn't had a Canadian presence since its 2013 season blew up over various disorganization and safety concerns (which happened during their earlier seasons, too), and doesn't appear too likely to come back any time soon (although you never know). Meanwhile, the WWCFL is quietly chugging along with real football where the focus is on the play rather than the attire, and they seem to be doing a good job of it. It would be great to see some more support for them from the CFL and its fans, though, and any such support could pay its own dividends. Promoting women's football has the potential to create new fans of the game, and seeing as the seasons barely overlap, many of those fans may become passionate about the CFL too.

The WWCFL and their teams are also working with Football Canada to promote national and international women's football competition, as with the inaugural Senior Women's National Championship this July, which the Riot will help host. That championship will see provincial teams compete for a national title, and it will also help identify players for the 2017 IFAF Women's World Championship. It's great to see Canada competing in that, as while the IFAF has had its own issues, it's still a valuable organization and a key part of growing the game internationally. The women's game absolutely should be a focus in those attempts to spread football globally, and it's good to see Canada supporting that.

As for the WWCFL, it's already played an important role in developing Canadian women's players to compete on a global stage, and it looks like it will continue to do so for some time to come. Cheers to the Valkyries on their championship, and to all the WWCFL teams and players as they continue to push women's football forward both in Canada and abroad.