The Maritime Women's Football League (MWFL) is a Canadian football league in eastern Canada. It was Canada's first all-female full-contact football competition when it began operating in 2004.
Since it was established, the League has grown from two to four teams. They hail from the three major cities of New Brunswick (Fredericton, Moncton and Saint John) along with a team from Halifax, Nova Scotia. A fifth team, on Prince Edward Island, played in the 2019 MWFL season before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The current MWFL title holders are the Saint John Storm, who won the 2024 championship game 15–6 over the Halifax Xplosion.
Teams Fredericton Gladiators – Fredericton, New Brunswick Halifax Xplosion – Halifax, Nova Scotia Saint John Storm – Saint John, New Brunswick Moncton Mayhem – Moncton, New Brunswick PEI Island Demons – Prince Edward Island (on hiatus)
History The league was founded in 2004 as the New Brunswick Women’s Football League, NBWFL. In 2006, it changed to its present name, the MWFL, when Halifax joined the competition.
Football Canada wrote, "With many obstacles to overcome the growth of the league was slow and at times discouraging. New teams needed enough money to buy all new equipment, or share with teams." The Maritime league became part of the Junior Player Development Program of Football Canada.
The 2010 Canadian women's national team, runner-up at the World Championship, contained 18 gridiron players from New Brunswick, of whom 14 were from the Saint John area.
The MWFL marked its tenth season, 2013, by naming an anniversary all-time team of the best players. In 2014, the season schedule was moved forward, earlier in the year, to play its seasons from April to June.
Since the MWFL began, the Western Women's Canadian Football League and Central Canadian Women's Football League have also been established in other regions of the country.
Modified rules In the MWFL, the playing field is a regulation Canadian football field, 65 yards wide, but offences are permitted four downs (rather than the usual three) to move the ball forward 10 yards. The one-yard neutral zone is the same as in regular Canadian football. Instead of 12 players per side, MWFL teams play with 11 per team according to the league's 2012 rules. As of 2012, the four timed quarters are each 12 minutes long ordinarily, but 15 minutes long in the final two weeks of the regular season. The league's former rules in 2007 stipulated that games were played with 10 players per team, in four quarters of 10 minutes each.
League champions The league championship is known as the SupHer Bowl, while the championship trophy is known as the Judy Upward Trophy.
YearChampion2004Simmonds Seagals2005Saint John Buccaneers2006Capital Area Lady Gladiators2007Capital Area Lady Gladiators2008Saint John Storm2009Moncton Vipers 2010Saint John Storm2011Saint John Storm2012Moncton Vipers2013Capital Area Lady Gladiators2014Saint John Storm2015Saint John Storm2016Saint John Storm2017Saint John Storm2018Fredericton Nissan Lady Gladiators2019Halifax Xplosion2020 Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic2021 Saint John Storm New Brunswick-only exhibition season due to pandemic border restrictions2022 Halifax Xplosion & Saint John Storm (co-champions) Championship game tied 10–10 after triple OT 2024 Saint John Storm
References
External links League Facebook homepage League Twitter page Bleacher Report preview of the tenth season, 2013 Original MWFL official site Last recorded May 3, 2012 (Web Archive) Fredericton Lady Gladiators team website