Concordia flag football’s fight for varsity recognition
Historic championship highlights push for resources and league support
When the Concordia University flag football team secured its first-ever provincial championship on Oct. 26, it was a momentous achievement, but arguably not the program’s top priority.
The debut season in 2021 set in place a pilot project that was initially planned to end in 2023 with a decision to establish a league inside the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ).
Come 2023, however, the team was told that it would take another year to reach a decision. The message was reiterated recently to Concordia flag football head coach Alexis Labonté.
“It’s going to be our fifth year next year and we’re either going to exist as the RSEQ league, or I don’t know what could happen,” Labonté said, speaking on the pilot project.
The program currently runs as a club team under the Concordia Student Union (CSU), meaning that the team does the bulk of the administrative work. Players are tasked with acquiring funding, sponsors and equipment, complicating the experience of being a student-athlete.
“When we signed up for the football team, emailing five sponsors a day wasn’t necessarily part of what we thought we’d be doing,” said Isabella Virgona-McGovern, a third-year receiver on the team. “We’ve built this program from the ground up and we’ve sustained it for four successful years. We’re ready to take the load off of our shoulders and hopefully get some assistance behind the scenes. Let us be athletes.”
The barrier prohibiting the team from becoming Stingers is not Concordia, but rather a condition demanded by the RSEQ. The league asks that a minimum number of universities commit to participating, according to Labonté, who met with the RSEQ to discuss. Universities must demonstrate that they can provide the necessary resources to support the team, such as organizing transportation and ensuring administrative support.
“[The RSEQ] want us to be in the league, they want to support our league,” Labonté said, “but the decision has to be made by all the sports directors from the schools.”
Each institution has its own unique situation, according to Labonté. While the Université du Québec à Montréal team is part of the Citadins because the school has provided sufficient resources, the Université du Québec en Outaouais team was unable to participate this season because it did not have a coach.
When it comes to Concordia, the Stingers have indicated they will support flag football if the RSEQ establishes the league.
“We’ve been fully supportive from the get-go,” Concordia Athletics associate director Graeme McGravie said. “We’re happy to continue that, and if [they come] on as Stingers, we’d be happy to call them that, that’s for sure.”
Concordia may seem gung-ho about supporting the flag football program, but there are budget constraints to consider. The reduced enrolment seen by the university since the Coalition Avenir Québec tuition hikes has diminished revenue. Concordia reported a 28 per cent enrolment drop from out-of-province students, with university president Graham Carr stating that the decline is costing approximately $15 million. According to McGravie, the upcoming fee levy referendum in the CSU fall by-elections could provide some financial relief for club teams such as flag football.
“If that fee levy does go through then obviously some of those funds from that, we would be able to put towards clubs to kind of help them out,” McGravie said.
McGravie also spoke on the pay-to-play status the flag football team follows, saying that it would still be the case.
“It’s not like they’re going to be varsity and all of a sudden there’s going to be like $50,000 or $100,000 and they’re going to be a fully funded team,” McGravie said. “They’re going to be able to call themselves Stingers, and we are going to try and help them out as much as we will, [...] but it’s still a pay-to-play model.”
Should Stingers status be granted, Concordia flag football would be able to benefit from certain luxuries, such as scholarships, that the pilot project has obstructed. According to McGravie, when the project began, the Stingers committee decided that they would not award bursaries to flag football players because they weren’t RSEQ members.
“There will be some possibilities of some bursaries for sure,” McGravie said. “But not a lot. Enough to have everybody coming here for free to play flag football.”
The varsity status has a larger significance separate from monetary gain. For Labonté, it’s a chance for the players who comprise the program to attain what they deserve.
“It’s kind of a small thing, but I think just to have the Stingers logo on your T-shirt instead of having ‘Concordia Flag Football,’ it is a difference for these girls,” Labonté said. “They earn it, they deserve it.”
The RSEQ will hold a vote in February 2025, and it’s there that a decision will be made regarding varsity status for all participating universities. The sport’s growing popularity—such as its addition to the Olympic Games in 2028—has made for a compelling case to join a team, according to Virgona-McGovern.
“To be able to have coaches that know flag, that their primary sport is flag, and learn from those people,” Virgona-McGovern said, “it makes me very optimistic for the future of flag as a growing sport and it makes me happy to see Quebec at the forefront of the Canadian world of flag.”
The Link contacted the RSEQ for comment and did not receive a response in time for publication.
This article originally appeared in Volume 45, Issue 6, published November 19, 2024.
