On September 11^th, in the first game of Simon Fraser University (SFU)’s 2021 football season, kicker Kristie Elliot became the first Canadian woman to play and score in a National Collegiate Athletic Association football game (SFU plays in the American division rather than Canadian U Sports). Against Oregon’s Linfield University, Elliot scored two points, both on Point After Attempts.

Kristie Elliot joined the SFU football team in 2019 and her journey towards football is quite the story. According to CBC, she never kicked a football before 2019, where it all started when an SFU football player bet her $20 that she couldn’t kick a 40-yard field goal. Elliot won that bet and joined the team. Since then, she has put in lots of hard work to eventually earn the playing time and chance to be the first Canadian woman to score in an NCAA football game. 

Elliot playing for a men’s American Football team shows that football may not be just a man’s game. American football for women is often sexualized or discriminated against, but in Elliot’s case she is able to participate in a respected high-level league and have lots of positive media coverage that many other women in the sport have not traditionally gotten. Elliot has been able to be herself and still earn the respect of her teammates and has even gotten her own separate locker room for the 2021 season. The effort put into the inclusion of Elliot on this SFU team and the respect she has gotten should be the standard for any women who have worked hard enough to earn a shot on a team, even if it is a traditionally men’s team. 

ZTaylor 

Featured image: Kristie Elliot kicking for a point after an SFU touchdown (Source: SFU)