Concordia flag football soars to historic victory

The team discusses first provincial championship in program history

SportsConor Tomalty — Published November 5, 2024 3 minutes

Concordia defeated Université de Montréal (UdeM) 20-0 at the Université Laval PEPS sports complex in Quebec City on Oct. 26, securing the title.

Not only is this Concordia’s first provincial championship in the league’s four-year existence, but it also capped off a brilliant season. The team went 8-1-1 on the campaign, good enough for first place in the overall standings.

“I think it’s a lot about resilience and consistently working hard,” said Léanne Majeau, a third-year defensive player, when asked about the program’s strength. “[Head coach Alexis Labonté] said to all the girls that went through the program and graduated, ‘This victory is also because of you guys [and] because of you guys building this team to where it is now.’”

This relentlessness was displayed on both sides of the ball. Offensively, the team scored 288 points this year, which tops the RSEQ rankings. While Concordia does have two national-level players on this side of the ball—quarterback Sara Parker and receiver Caroline Moquin-Joubert—the success, according to third-year receiver Isabella Virgona-McGovern, is tied to two key factors: depth and execution.

“We don’t have anyone [on the team] who the coach doesn’t trust or the quarterback doesn’t trust to get the ball in our hands. We’re very precise,” Virgona-McGovern said. “[Offensive coordinator] Lovinski [Gelin] makes sure that we know exactly what we’re doing, the spacing, how to see what the defence is doing.”

The defence deserves its flowers as well. Concordia placed third in points allowed with 193, just five off of leaders the Université du Québec à Montréal. Additionally, the shutout performance in the final was the sole of the season, but obviously, it couldn’t have come at a better time.

“Leaving no points is really hard,” Majeau said. “It’s normal to leave points, but the fact that we didn’t shows our resilience and mindset going into that game that we’re not losing.”

The culmination of this mindset and determination manifested itself with a resounding championship win. Being crowned champs is the ultimate goal for every athlete, yet when the final whistle blew, and despite all the hard work and visualizing the win, both Majeau and Virgona-McGovern were left in disbelief.

“I didn’t want to let myself believe that it was finally happening,” Virgona-McGovern said. “[In] 2022, we lost in the semifinal, then last year we lost in the final [...] and then when the [final whistle blew], I was like, ‘Woah, it happened.’”

“I felt a big feeling of peace,” said Majeau, who was on the field when the game ended. “I was like, ‘Finally.’ I’ve been wanting it so bad and [it] broke my heart every time we didn’t get it, [...] kind of like, mission accomplished, we did it, what’s next?”

Next is the Canadian Collegiate Flag Football Championship, set for May 2025. Concordia is no stranger to the Canada-wide last dance, having placed third two years in a row. The tournament has been around for three years and has seen three consecutive Quebec-based institutions crowned: UdeM in 2022 and 2023, and Collège Montmorency in 2024. Concordia is looking to be the first English-speaking institution to capture the coveted title of National Champions.

This article originally appeared in Volume 45, Issue 5, published November 5, 2024.