When Amélie Beauregard was asked what she wanted for her 18th birthday, she said she wanted to meet Maya Turner, the female starting kicker of the University of Manitoba Bisons men's football team. On Saturday, her wish came true. She and her father flew from Montreal to Calgary, to watch the Bisons play the University of Calgary Dinos.
Beauregard met Turner on the field after the Bisons' 22-17 victory. "Hi, Oh my god, you are awesome," she said before giving Turner a big hug. "I do admire you.
I was watching your video and I want to meet this girl and I want to do the same as you do...
. It's a men's world but we can take our place in it." Turner has already done so.
She made history last year as the first woman to play and score in a regular-season university football game. She made two field goals, including the game-winner in overtime. Roundup Maya Turner rewrites history books in Week 5 of U Sports football Maya Turner kicks OT winner after becoming 1st woman to play regular-season U Sports football game So far this season, the Bisons are 4-0.
Turner has made six of seven field goals, the longest being 38 yards. She has also made 11 of 11 points after touchdowns. Rookie kicker breaking ground Halfway across the country, Beauregard has been watching, inspired, in what she laughingly describes as "The Maya Effect.
" Like Turner, she is also a soccer player who took up football. She is also breaking ground as a rookie kicker on the Sherbrooke CEGEP men's football team, the .