Wipf ready for another season with Steel
As the Lethbridge Steel work towards capturing an elusive WWCFL championship, a familiar face returns to their lineup. Having last appeared with the purple and silver during the 2013 campaign, Christina Wipf brings ambition and determination to the gridiron. Returning in 2015 for her sophomore season, Wipf sat out during 2014 as it coincided with her pregnancy. Giving birth to her third child, her other children are three and six years of age.
Having played in 2013 at the wide receiver position, she displayed versatility as one of the backup quarterbacks to starting signal caller Kessie Stefanyk. As a side note, Stefanyk ascends to the head coaching position this season, making her the first female head coach in WWCFL history. With Stefanyk’s knowledge and guidance, Wipf should not only benefit from an increased confidence, but is poised to build on her predecessor’s strong career as the Steel’s signal caller.
Growing up in Fort Macleod, Alberta, Wipf was a multi-talented athlete who engaged in numerous sports. With an insatiable love of competitive sport, the chance to grace the gridiron not only represented opportunity, but the chance to add an exciting new dimension to her athletic endeavors. Considering that Wipf’s initial exposure to the Steel was attributed by their efforts to raise awareness about their growing sport in the community, it only seemed inevitable that an accomplished athlete such as Wipf would eventually cross their paths.
“I played all types of sports while I was in school including basketball, soccer, volleyball, track, cross country and rugby. I have always enjoyed watching football but being from Fort Macleod we never had a team so I did not have the opportunity to give it a try growing up, other than playing a game with my brothers and friends.
I graduated from high school in 2005 and had not played any competitive sports (other than some coed volleyball) until I set foot on the gridiron with the Steel. I had always wanted to give football a try and when I had seen the Lethbridge Steel girls in the Whoop Up Days Parade in Lethbridge, I figured, hey why not? So I looked up the team website, went to a practice and have been hooked ever since.”
Since that initial exposure to football, suiting up for the Steel has been jubilant for Wipf. Looking to build on the momentum of her freshman campaign in 2013, she knows that the most important element is the strong sense of support that exists within the team. The elements of friendship and teamwork are braided together, composing an unrealized but rich history on the gridiron, where the constantly expanding game punctuates potential.
Image obtained from Facebook
“The thing that I have enjoyed most about playing with the Steel is that the ladies that play (and also the coaches) become a family. Even my first year playing, I felt so welcome and never once felt like a rookie.
The girls are more than willing to help you out on and off the field. I also like how football has challenged me. It is not like any sport that I have played before. In other sports you work more as a team to get the job done. Yet, I find with football, it is more everybody has their own job to do and if they do it properly the team succeeds.”
This season, Wipf and the Steel have a very clear and defined goal; obtaining its first-ever championship. In discussing what it will take to win said championship, elements such as teamwork and sacrifice are predominant. Football can be a very structured sport, at times involving a gradual deciphering of the opposition, both individually and collaboratively.
Like Wipf’s colleagues, young and old, the body of work assembled after the gridiron clashes is a pioneering one, a product of perseverance. She hopes that such output shall yield the championship dividends that shall satisfy the Steel’s hunger.
“Winning a championship in any sport takes teamwork, at the same time everyone needs to do THEIR job. All it takes is one person not doing what they are supposed to do and it potentially messes up a play. I feel that in the years past, the Lethbridge Steel had what it took to win the Championship; teamwork, everyone knowing their job and executing it, dedication, commitment, passion and HEART (we want to win it).
We have just been outplayed by a very good team. If we can all give 100% on the field at practice and in games, work together to do our jobs and not give up, even when our muscles are screaming, and are lungs are ready to explode, we can hopefully win the championship this year.”
“All quotes obtained first hand unless otherwise indicated”
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