The Regina Riot play their first home game of their second season in the WWCFL at 11 a.m. Sunday at Mosaic Stadium. Anyone feeling left out of the loop because they missed last season can get an up close and personal review of the team at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Thomas Retzlaff’s documentary Who Do You Hit For: The Story of the Regina Riot, will be premiered at the museum following a Riot pep rally across from Mosaic at 12 p.m. on Saturday.
While making the film he gained amazing access to the Riot throughout their training, regular season and playoff birth in 2011.
Retzlaff says people need to see for themselves just how intense the league is. “This is not lingerie football, this is real football, and the same football you would see at high school, university and professional,” said Retzlaff.
“It gets very rough, I have talked to a few of the players — they break ankles and bones, they get bruised up just like everybody else.”
Of particular interest is the Riot’s rivalry with the Saskatoon Valkyries.
“Really early on the Saskatoon and Regina rivalry kicked in,” said Retzlaff, the two teams played their first-ever games against one another. “It all came down to Regina and Saskatoon competing again in the prairie championship, the winner going on to play in the league championship,” said Retzlaff.
But the documentary is really all about the players and their commitment to women’s football in Canada. “They are passionate, funny, dedicated,” said Retzlaff, “the majority of the Regina Riot are comprised of working 8-5 women, they work during the day and practice at night.”
