MWFL All-Star Chatterton promoted to Canadian National Team

Kristen Chatterton received the greatest news in her storied football career when she learned she would be promoted from the reserve roster to the Canadian National Team.

A four-time defensive All-Star selection in her Maritime Women’s Football League career, Chatterton is focused on winning the gold medal at the 2013 Women’s Tackle Football Championships.

Having grown up in Nackawic, New Brunswick (more than 225 kilometers from Moncton), the opportunity to compete in football simply did not exist. In the twilight of her high school years, Chatterton made the decision to leave her hometown and pursue the opportunity.

“I have always wanted to play football, but in the town I grew up in, football only existed on TV. Football is a male dominated sport and I took that as a challenge. My senior year of high school, I decided to move to Fredericton, New Brunswick, so that I could have the opportunity to play the game. It has been a big part of my life ever since.”

For most of her distinguished career in the MWFL, Chatterton competed with the Moncton Vipers. Heading into the 2012 MWFL season, Chatterton found a new home with the Capital Area Lady Gladiators. Of note, the Lady Gladiators feature three other players who qualified for the Canadian National Team: Alex Black, Emma Hicks and Robyn Neill.

During the 2012 MWFL season, her first match against the Moncton Vipers was one of great emotion. In asking what it felt like to play the Vipers the first time, Chatterton replied:

“It was a rush! It is like going home for the holidays, you are excited and nervous. I still consider the Moncton Vipers as family to this day. Playing against them I felt the need to show them everything I had. I never wanted to leave the field that game!”

Before the season ended, Chatterton would encounter her former team in the 2012 MWFL championship game. While Moncton bested the Lady Gladiators for the league title, Chatterton was named the Most Outstanding Player from her team’s defensive unit.

“It was a great honor! I was surrounded by very talented players on my defensive. Getting the award was unexpected and humbling to say the least.”

Known affectionately throughout the league as Shot, she is a remarkable team player who brings a great presence to the gridiron. Of note, Chatterton did not earn the nickname Shot from football. Rather, she was given it based on her skill in another sport.

 

“The nickname Shot comes from my high school hockey days. I had one of the hardest slap shots on the team. My coaches started calling me ‘Slap Shot’ then just Shot. The name has followed me in every sport I have played since.”

Having originally been named to the reserves for Canada’s National Team, the promotion is one that brings with it great elation and pride. “Being named to Team Canada means the world to me! I have worked so hard to get to this point. Most of all, it is an opportunity to be a strong role model for my daughter.”

With Canada having won a silver medal at the inaugural Women’s Worlds in 2010, winning the gold medal is the next objective. In asking what it will take for Canada to claim the gold, she replied:

“As a team we will have to be mentally and physically strong going into every game. For me personally, Al Pacino’s “Inch by Inch” speech from the film Any Given Sunday is what I think every team should live by to win any game.”

Source:  Mark Staffieri – The Bleacher Report