A woman’s touch: female football president Jackson making her mark in a masculine game

Combining hard hits, high-flying action and a win or go home mentality, football is extremely popular sport in North America and one that is associated with toughness, big egos and general machismo. A sport without a major female league, football is widely considered to be a ‘man’s game’. However in Ontario where the game is growing at high pace, much of the progress is due to one extremely hard working and motivated woman.

Marie Jackson is the current president of the Ontario Varsity Football League (OVFL) and over the past year in the role has earned the admiration of those in the football community and is making strides to grow the sport’s culture in the province.

“I have been instrumental in amalgamating football in Ontario,” said Jackson of her efforts. “The OVFL has from the ages of seven to 19, all playing football from the fall to the summer.”

“I make sure everything is just done perfectly for the players to have the proper experience and keep coming back and see how exciting it is.”

Fueled by her passion for the sport and athletic background, Jackson has not been fazed by the idea of being a female president of such a masculine game.

“I decided to run for president because I wanted to implement more things to help football,” explained Jackson. “I had proven myself and gained respect in a very prominent male sport as my confidence and knowledge grew of the game.”

Being a motivated and influential woman inside the football culture has come with a few dissenters, but Jackson says that almost everyone she has dealt with has been supportive of her and her work.

“I do get shots and inappropriate comments but I know how to handle myself very well with men,” she said of her experiences with sexism. “I am very well respected with men.”

“I am an attractive woman and they do say little inappropriate comments that they shouldn’t really be saying, but I just ignore it.”

Jackson points out that showing those who did not believe in her how successful she can be as a female presence in football is extremely satisfying.

“To me the greatest feeling is when they say that you can’t do it, and then do it,” said Jackson.

A former competitive soccer player, fitness model and overall athlete, Jackson has a long competitive history and is extremely confident in her role as president of the OVFL, the largest football league in Ontario.

“We have probably over 21000 kids that are in the OVFL,” added Jackson.

Jackson has been with the OVFL for several years and is never complacent with her workload or past achievements, constantly on the go and making connections to help grow football not only in the province, but also across Canada.

“I try my best to promote the kids nation wide,” said Jackson. “I work tirelessly to promote the players and the league because at the end of the day I want the boys to excel.”

Jackson has been responsible for helping create the OVFL Prospects All-Star game, which recently played its fourth annual game and networks with football scouts from across the country among other developments for young football players.

“I have built a good relationship with all of the CIS coaches and scouts across Canada,” Jackson explained. “I have run all star games and camps throughout high schools, the golden horseshoe and the GTA.”

Jackson has become so proficient at evaluating talent that scouts will often come to her directly in order to get a read on upcoming talent, stating “I can pick up the talent of the kids. Scouts will call me and ask me if there are certain players at certain clubs.”

With her passion for competition and football driving her, Jackson has delved herself into her job as president of the OVFL and has become well known by players, parents and coaches alike. Her hard working style and respect for the players has helped her become an important outlet for upcoming athletes.

“The best part of football is being around the players and pushing them to be the best they can be,” she stated. “I still stay in touch with the player’s they email their achievements and I am very proud of them all.”

Alouettes quarterback and former McMaster University slinger Kyle Quinlan recently received his schools athlete of the year award and made sure to let Marie know.

“I spoke to him at the McMaster banquet and he told me “Marie I got athlete of the year”,” she said of the recent encounter. “I told him I would get that on the OVFL site.”

“I don’t need the accolades, I truly am there for the boys and it gives me true pleasure to see them succeed.”

Wanting to help out the athletes who come into her life in any way she can, Jackson is aware of the importance of both athletics and education. While football is her passion and is for the athletes as well, playing the game is not as important as a student’s education.

I always strive for academics,” Jackson stated.  “How many are going to go to the CFL or NFL?”

“At the end of the day you want to have an education.”

Player safety is also an important issue that Jackson has been dealing with and feels it is one of the most important issues that the game of football has to tackle. Having had a concussion only two and a half years ago, Jackson is personally experienced when it comes to the head injury, a growing concern for football worldwide.

“I think that’s very important to identify concussion and how long it takes to heal,” Jackson stated. “I took the lead by having the trainer to trainers certificate for health and safety with the OVFL to try to train all the managers so that there is proper fitting of all the helmets, shoulder pads and things like that.”

Also owning a dental background, Jackson and the league had custom fitted mouth guards made last season and keeps coaches up to date on the latest equipment information.

I send literature out on which helmets fit which heads and how to wear it,” Jackson explained. “To me that is really important.”

“Proper shoes, nutrition, all the proper things; it’s huge for a young athlete.”

Only one year into her tenure as the president of the OVFL, Jackson has already made countless strides forward, whether it is scouting, safety or helping players balance education with sport. She is never satisfied with what she has accomplished already and is going to continue to be one of the driving forces that are moving Ontario football forward at such a high pace.