Shanelle Rioux, the head coach for the Estevan Kinette Club U18 Viragos female football club, was pleased with the club’s effort in their first game, but she recognizes they have a lot of improvements to be made.
The Viragos lost 56-0 to the Moosomin Generals Sunday afternoon at Woodlawn Athletic Park.
“Being the first game, and all of the girls never playing before, we didn’t really know what to expect. We knew there was going to be some kinks to work out, and a lot of questions from all of the girls, so there’s nothing you can expect other than to hope for a successful game,” said Rioux.
In the first half, there were a lot of learning moments, she said. The Viragos looked like a completely different team in the second half, as they started piecing together what to do, how the game actually works and the difference between game speed and practice speed.
“I was quite impressed with how they pulled through in the end,” said Rioux.
Once the players found the knack for game speed, Rioux said spectators could tell the Viragos were starting to have fun, and the score in the second half didn’t reflect how great they were playing.
The defence had some “outstanding” moments, and Rioux expects they have found some players who will be very reliable. Their punter, who has some football experience, did a great job as well.
But she sees room for improvement in all facets of the game, especially with a young team.
The Viragos had 20 players dressed for the game, so they had more than enough for a unit on offence and a unit on defence, since the teams have nine players on the field at a time. Estevan had more players than Moosomin, but Moosomin had advantages in both game experience and in age.
“Most of our players are in Grade 9 or 10. It is for Grades 7-12, and I know the Moosomin team did have a bunch of Grade 12 girls, so I’m excited to see how we play in a couple of years when all of our girls are older, and the other teams are losing their older players,” said Rioux.
The Viragos will face the Genrals again on Oct. 11 in Moosomin. And the Estevan team has games with the Yorkton Lady Gridders; the teams will play Oct. 4 in Yorkton and Oct. 25 in Estevan.
She hopes they can play Regina and Melville before the season is over.
“I’m super glad we have a season to give the girls,” said Rioux.
