Calgary Rage
{{Short description|Canadian women's football team}}
{{Infobox American football team
| name = Calgary Rage
| logo =CalgaryRage Logo.png
| founded = 2009
| league = WWCFL
| location = Calgary, Alberta
| field = Hellard at Shouldice Athletic Park
| division =Western
| colours = {{color box|#cc092f}} {{color box|#FFFFFF}} {{color box|#000000}}
| coach =
| president = Nadine Goldade
| league_champ_type =
| league_champs =0
| website = {{URL|http://www.calgaryrage.ca/}}
|conf_champs=2 (2017, 2023)|bgcolour=#BB2327|fontcolour=white}}
The Calgary Rage are a women's football team in the Western Women's Canadian Football League's (WWCFL) Western Conference. They are based in Calgary, Alberta.
Team history
The team was first founded as the Calgary Rockies in 2009, and played exhibition games against the Edmonton Storm and Manitoba Fearless. In 2010, the Rockies, Storm, and the newly founded Lethbridge Steel joined together to form the Alberta Female Football League (AFFL), which played for one season. In 2011, the Rockies changed their name to the Calgary Rage, and the AFFL was absorbed by the WWCFL, which included the Fearless and new teams in Winnipeg, Regina, and Saskatoon. The WWCFL began play in 2011 with seven teams in two conferences, with the three Alberta-based teams competing in the Western Conference.
The Rage got off to a slow start, winning just six games in their first five seasons and getting eliminated by their rivals from Edmonton in the playoffs each year they qualified. They had a breakthrough season in 2017, posting an undefeated record through the regular season, finishing atop the Western Conference for the first time and proceeding all the way to the WWCFL Championship final, where they faced the Regina Riot. They lost the final by a score of 53–0.{{Cite news |date=2017-06-11 |title=Regina Riot captures WWCFL championship |work=Regina Leader-Post |url=https://leaderpost.com/sports/football/regina-riot-captures-wwcfl-championship/ |access-date=2023-07-15}} They were again eliminated from contention by the Riot in 2018 after the league adopted a cross-conference playoff format. The Rage posted a fourth consecutive winning season in 2019, but lost to the Steel in the first round of the playoffs.
The WWCFL cancelled its 2020 and 2021 seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, when play resumed in 2022, the Rage picked up where they left off and continued to post winning records. The team also changed its recruitment strategy, and consequently saw its roster grow from 25 players in 2022 to 43 in 2023.{{Cite news |last=Sharp |first=Jonathon |date=2023-05-05 |title=Calgary women's football team sees spike in new players, including girls who grew up tackling |work=CBC News |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-women-s-football-team-sees-spike-in-new-players-including-girls-who-grew-up-tackling-1.6831592 |access-date=2023-07-17}} After being eliminated in the Semi-Final in 2022 by the Fearless, the Rage posted their second undefeated season and made their second trip to the WWCFL Championship in 2023. They were again shut out in the title match, this time by the Saskatoon Valkyries.{{Cite news |last=Dayal |first=Pratyush |date=2023-06-26 |title=Saskatoon Valkyries win 3rd straight Western Women's Canadian Football League title |work=CBC News |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/saskatoon-valkyries-win-their-third-straight-league-title-1.6889191 |access-date=2023-07-15}}
Year by year
| style="background-color:#FFDEE2; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; width:2em;" |
| = Indicates Division Title (regular season) |
| style="background-color:#CCFFCC; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; width:2em;" |
| = Indicates Conference Title |
| style="background-color:#FFCC00; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; width:2em;" |
| = Indicates League Championship |
| class="wikitable" style="width:60%;" | |||
| style="text-align:center; background:#BB2327; color:#FFFFFF;"
| Season |League |Conf |W | L | Conf. standing | Playoff result
|Ref. |
| style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=""
|2011 |WWCFL |Western |1 |3 |2nd |Lost Western Conference Final, 13–9 vs. Edmonton Storm | |||
| style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=""
|2012 |WWCFL |Western |1 |3 |2nd |Lost Quarterfinal, 34–13 vs. Edmonton Storm | |||
| style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=""
|2013 |WWCFL |Western |2 |2 |3rd |Did not qualify | |||
| style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=""
|2014 |WWCFL |Western |0 |4 |4th |Lost Quarterfinal, 47–0 vs. Edmonton Storm | |||
| style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=""
|2015 |WWCFL |Western |2 |2 |2nd |Lost Quarterfinal, 48–31 vs. Edmonton Storm | | |||
| style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=""
|2016 |WWCFL |Western |3 |1 |2nd |Lost Quarterfinal, vs. Lethbridge Steel | | |||
| style="text-align:center;" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|2017 |WWCFL |Western |4 |0 |1st |Lost WWCFL Final, 53–0 vs. Regina Riot | |||
| style="text-align:center;" bgcolor="#FFDEE2"
|2018 |WWCFL |Western |3 |1 |1st |Lost Semifinal, 45–6 vs. Regina Riot | |||
| style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=""
|2019 |WWCFL |Western |3 |1 |2nd |Lost Quarterfinal, 27–21 vs. Lethbridge Steel | |||
| style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=""
|2020 |WWCFL |Western | colspan="4" |Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | |||
| style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=""
|2021 |WWCFL |Western | colspan="4" |Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | | |||
| style="text-align:center;" bgcolor="#FFDEE2"
|2022 |WWCFL |Western |3 |1 |1st |Lost Semifinal, 15–6 vs. Manitoba Fearless | |||
| style="text-align:center;" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|2023 |WWCFL |Western |3 |0 |1st |Lost WWCFL Final, 40–0 vs. Saskatoon Valkyries | |||
| style="text-align:center;" bgcolor="#FFDEE2"
|2024 |WWCFL |Western |4 |0 |1st |Lost Semifinal, 29–0 vs. Regina Riot |{{Cite news |date=2024-06-17 |title=Saskatoon Valkyries advance to WWCFL final, CEBL Rattlers fall to Vancouver |url=https://thestarphoenix.com/sports/local-sports/saskatoon-valkyries-advance-to-wwcfl-final-cebl-rattlers-fall-to-vancouver |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240618203251/https://thestarphoenix.com/sports/local-sports/saskatoon-valkyries-advance-to-wwcfl-final-cebl-rattlers-fall-to-vancouver |archive-date=2024-06-18 |access-date=2024-07-03 |work=Saskatoon StarPhoenix |via=msn}} | |||
| style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=""
| colspan="3" |Totals (2011–2024) |29 |18 | colspan="2" | | |
IFAF competitors
The following lists women from the Calgary Rage who have competed in the IFAF Women's World Championship as members of Team Canada.
Community involvement
Many Rage players volunteer as ushers at Calgary Stampeders home games. More players are getting involved with coaching around Calgary with different levels of programs ranging from pee-wee football to high school. On 1 September, 2013, several members of the Rage roster participated in the Calgary Pride Parade.{{Cite web |url=http://www.calgaryrage.com/archive/rage-has-pride/ |title=Calgary Rage Women's Tackle Football |access-date=2013-11-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202234808/http://www.calgaryrage.com/archive/rage-has-pride/ |archive-date=2013-12-02 |url-status=dead }}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
{{Women's gridiron football leagues}}
{{Alberta Sports}}
Category:Women's sports in Calgary
Category:2009 establishments in Alberta