Ashley Viklund among Regina Riot stars ready to shine for Team Canada

As the 2017 WWCFL approaches, which sees the Regina Riot hosting the Manitoba Fearless on May 7, 2017, there is a sense of momentum that builds, as several of its star players enter the season with a sense of celebration and achievement. A significant aspect is attributed to a group of its players collaborating towards helping the Saskatchewan provincial women’s team capture its first national championship.

Among five members of the Regina Riot, including Carmen Agar, Claire Dore and sisters Aimee and Alex Kowalski, that shall be part of the offensive unit for Team Canada at the 2017 IFAF Women’s World Championships, it represents a proud hallmark for Ashley Viklund, who enters her fifth season with the club. Competing on the offensive line, she is definitely one of the Riot’s unsung heroes, whose presence has helped place the Riot among the elite in the Western Women’s Canadian Football League.

The first step towards the opportunity to gain the opportunity to be named to Team Canada took place at the 2016 Canadian Women’s National Championships. Gracing the gridiron with Team Saskatchewan, there was a sense of excitement and privilege for Viklund.

From the outset, the Nationals were held in Regina, providing Viklund and the 17 other women from the Riot that donned the provincial team’s green jersey a sense of home field advantage. Riot teammates Trisha Jattasingh and Tricia Sylvester joined Viklund as the other members of the club’s offensive line unit to suit up for Team Saskatchewan.

After a hard-fought silver medal at the inaugural Women’s Nationals in 2012, this quadrennial event brought with a feeling of redemption. Vanquishing Team Quebec in the gold medal game by a 34-22 final score, it was a victory that was well worth the wait.

“It’s difficult to put my feelings into words, but I will do my best! It meant a great deal to me to be first chosen again to represent Saskatchewan. As you may know I was a member of Team Saskatchewan in 2012 where we won silver in Quebec.

Though achieving second at the event was quite an accomplishment, our goal was certainly to win gold. To come back this time around and take the gold was a wonderful accomplishment! It shows other teams across Canada that Saskatchewan is a force in women’s football to recon with, and was a wonderful experience.

I was so incredibly proud of all my teammates, in the way we came together from separate teams to create a new team of such talent. I was so honoured to share the field with them.”

Adding to the sense of victorious jubilation was the fact that Viklund gained a very well deserved place on the National Championship All-Stars. Surprisingly, she was the only member of the Riot to gain a place among the offensive players named to the All-Star team. As a side note, four members of the Riot represented the Defensive All-Stars, including Katie Hungle, Jessie Noname, Artemis Kouropoulou and Mira Trebilcock.

Joining Viklund as the only other member of Team Saskatchewan’s offensive line to gain All-Star recognition was Alyssa Funk, whose club team is the rival Saskatoon Valkyries. Such recognition represents a significant hallmark in her blossoming career, complementing the 2015 WWCFL championship that also holds a hallowed place among her gridiron heroics, While the initial news resulted in an outpouring of emotion, part surprise and part euphoria, she is quick to humbly credit that any individual recognition was due to an overall team effort,

“I was on vacation when a friend texted me that I had been named an all star. I didn’t realize they would be selecting an All-Star team so I didn’t completely put it together. When it sank in that I had been selected, my initial reaction was to become tearful as I was overwhelmed with emotion.

Not what is expected of an o-line woman with a certain reputation, but it was heartfelt. It meant so much to be recognized in that way. I was lucky to have the teammates I did on team Saskatchewan, especially my fellow o-line ladies, and they deserve a large part of credit for being chosen as an all star.”

With the arrival of the New Year, it also brought with it another remarkable milestone, adding to the momentum of the national championship and the subsequent All-Star prestige. Joining fellow Team Saskatchewan competitors Alyssa Funk and Jaime Lammerding as seven members of the Canadian contingent’s offensive line, it continued the theme of redemption for Viklund.

Having tried out for Team Canada when it fielded a team for the 2013 edition of the IFAF Women’s Worlds, Viklund was not part of the final roster. To gain the opportunity to be part of Team Canada after many years spent tirelessly working for a second chance, it represented her character and dedication to the game.

Being named to Team Canada brings with it an extra sense of pride for Viklund, as this year’s Women’s Worlds shall be held on home soil for the first time. With Vancouver serving as the host city, it is an achievement that brings with it a sense of national pride. Regardless of the final outcome at Vancouver, Viklund is already a champion. With a solid work ethic and a determined approach to success, she is a role model for other athletes that have seen their sporting dreams impeded.

“I was not invited to the previous Team Canada ID camp, to be considered for the team that played in Finland. I took that as a learning experience and my inspiration to work harder. At this point, I joined a gym and got a weightlifting program from a friend on the team, and built up my strength.

As the national championship grew closer I hired a strength coach for more focused development. I worked with coaches to increase my skill and football knowledge both on and off the field. I was also very fortunate to have some very talented coaches with my house team.

So to have the acknowledgement at the championship was a wonderful recognition of my hard work, as well as that of the people around me. To be selected for Team Canada for the next time around, I think it would be a nod to the incredible team that I play with each year and the coaches who have taught me everything I know in the last five years.”

“All quotes obtained first hand unless otherwise indicated”

Image obtained from: https://www.facebook.com/ReginaRiot/