Bisons’ Maya Turner first woman named Canada West football all-star | CityNews Winnipeg

Sport history has been made right here in Manitoba.

The University of Manitoba Bisons’ own kicker Maya Turner has become the first woman ever to be named a Canada West All-Star after an amazing 2024 U Sports season and the ace kicker is inspiring girls across the country.

“It’s really great to see a lot of girls, whether it’s messaging me or coming up to me after games and connecting with me in other ways … to say they are inspired by me,” she told reporters Thursday. “I’m just so humbled to be able to be that person who other girls look up to.”

According to Football Canada, the accolade comes following a season of “remarkable consistency” that saw Turner connecting on 12 of 16 field goals, leading the Canada West division with a 75 per cent success rate.

Turner says that becoming an all-star so quickly was not anticipated but was a goal of hers.

“I’m so honoured to be able to have received this award along with these other great players in the conference, other special teams players,” she said.  

“It’s always been one of my goals, to not just be good at kicking for a girl, but good in the league, good in the conference, and I think this is a step towards that.”

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Any doubters have been silenced by the Maple Grove, Minn. local, who joined the Bisons after catching the attention of head coach Brian Dobie, telling the press Turner “took off like a rocketship,” and will continue to grow as an asset on the gridiron.

“She had to climb a lot of hills and a lot of mountains before she climbed the Mount Everest of mountains,” he said. “And she did that. And she’s tough. And I think that’s a big part of her success — she’s really mentally tough.”

Dobie also stressed she’s had this success against the backdrop of leaving behind her home country and her original sport of soccer, saying despite her newfound superstardom, she remains incredibly humble.

Congratulations to University of Manitoba kicker Maya Turner, the first woman to be named a Canada West football All-Star!

She’s made 14 of 18 field goals this season, the best in the conference.????@USPORTSca | @umbisons pic.twitter.com/3PK7SaXgTe

— CFL (@CFL) November 5, 2024

Some students at the University of Manitoba say the recognition is inspiring.

“To have a role model to look up to that you can kind of base your path off of, I think that would be really important,” said Amy Clark, a student on campus Thursday.”Lots of young girls will now have Maya to look up to which is awesome.”

Other students like Ashley Appleyard, said Turner is helping to bash misconceptions and mistruths. 

“There’s still a lot of stereotypes around women; like they’re not as good at sports or stuff like that as men are,” she said. “But I feel like this is proof that women are, and they can be, and they should be recognized for that.” 

Turner says she has every intention to continue her sporting career, with her end goal reaching the highest level possible, saying to take to the field in either the CFL or NFL is something she’d welcome.