Julie David
Julie David is a football natural, but she didn't always know it.
She went to her first-ever football practice four years ago. It was a Wednesday. By Sunday, she was playing in her first tackle football game with the Saskatoon Valkyries. She was terrified the entire first year.
"I still didn't know what I was doing half the time," David said.
Since then, she's racked up more than twice as many rushing yards (2,258) and touchdowns (54) as any other Valkyrie. Almost half the Valkyries' touchdowns over the last three years have been scored by David, including many of the lengthy highlight-reel variety. Odds are she is actually the all-time Western Women's Canadian Football League (WWCFL) rushing leader, but records were not kept. She is also at or near the top of the league in receiving and kick return yards. And she is a strong player on defence when called upon.
"I don't know how much more to emphasize this, she is one of the most important players on the team, if not the most important," said fourth-year Valkyries starting quarterback Candace Bloomquist. "In my opinion, having her there, I feel 1,000 times more comfortable when I go up to the line of scrimmage and I know that she knows where she's going."
At her first practice, David struggled to put on her equipment. She didn't know what position to play until the general manager suggested running back.
"She really didn't stick out to me that much, which seems funny to say now that we watch her," head coach Jeff Yausie said.
Despite all her personal successes on the field, David always redirects attention to her team. She says she doesn't feel like a star in her league.
"Not at all," she said. "It's such a team sport that one person can't do anything without the other people on the field."
Even her finest single game - a six-touchdown, 277 all-purpose-yards monster effort in the second Valkyries league championship game in 2012 isn't a chance to brag.
"I don't think it was anything special that I did," said the 25-year-old David. She had five rushing and one receiving touchdown in that game. "You know, (Bloomquist) can pretty much throw wherever she wants, so that passing one is pretty much all her, not me. And the other ones are just the other girls making their blocks. I just kind of run."
The WWCFL features the highest level of women's tackle football in Canada. Instead of playing in front of tens of thousands of screaming fans in face paint, the women play to a couple hundred or so, mostly their friends and family.
The players are primarily young women in their 20s and 30s with some previous athletic background, who often never had the chance to play tackle football before the league began four years ago.
The Valkyries are the most successful franchise in WWCFL history, winning the first three league championships, and losing only one of 26 all-time games in an eight team Saskatchewan and Alberta league. They have outscored opponents 1,155-243, and have a chance for a fourthstraight title this weekend, hosting the Lethbridge Steel in the championship game on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium.
Fans who follow the Valkyries recognize the speedy five-foot, six-inch David for her abilities, whether they know her by name or not.
Teammate Marci Kiselyk, who teaches and coaches at Aden Bowman Collegiate, says the girls there will comment on "our speedy running back and how good she is.
"She's a standout player because people can't play with her," adds Kiselyk, the all-time leading Valkyries receiver. "She's faster than everybody. And if she's not faster than you, she's smarter than you and so she'll beat you with her route running, or with setting up her cuts.
Despite all the thrilling scores, one non-touchdown play stands out most vividly to David herself, because it showed her the progress she is making.
"Throughout my first couple years all my coaches and all my teammates were harping on me to run lower. I would run really high. So the very first time I actually lowered my shoulder and dropped somebody, I kept running, and she was on the ground - that was a really proud moment for me."
David was one of 10 Valkyries players, 17 from Saskatchewan, to qualify for Team Canada's entry into the Women's World Championship in Finland in 2013. Canada walked away with a silver medal and David was named the most outstanding special teams player of the tournament with 289 return yards to go with three touchdowns, including a 70-yarder.
"Her toughness I find incredible," said Yausie, who was also the Team Canada head coach. "She's not a big player, but she plays big. She delivers blows on people trying to tackle her. In my mind she plays 20, 30 pounds bigger than she is.
"And then her work ethic - she doesn't miss a practice, she does not miss a rep in practice. Her reps are full speed. She just wants to give everything she's got every play, every time she touches the ball. If anything, we've got to put the brakes on her and get her to slow down a little and look out for herself a little bit more when she is banged up."
Despite David's natural athletic abilities, she had everything to learn about football. The large North Burnaby High School she attended didn't have a football program for boys or girls.
As a child growing up in Burnaby, she started playing sports even before she could play with a team. Her dad would take her to a park and tell her, "Okay I'm timing you - run around the track." Athletics were important to her parents.
David has one older brother, 28-yearold James, who tried hockey briefly when he was younger but didn't really enjoy it. She also has an older step-sister, Chloe Wallbridge (27) and younger step-brother, Beau Wallbridge (24). None of her siblings took to sports nearly as much as David did.
Her entire family, including her mom, Linda David-Barone and step-dad Craig Barone as well as dad Gerry Loran and step-mom Louise Wallbridge continue to live in Burnaby and Port Moody B.C. David moved to Saskatoon to be closer to some relatives and attend the University of Saskatchewan.
She played two years for the Huskie women's soccer squad, but her time there was not what she had hoped for. Fortunately for her, the opportunity to play football for the Valkyries came along.
During that first year, the Valkyries employed a different Julie as their feature back - Julie Paetsch. She led the league in rushing and touchdowns while David played a lot of defensive back, learning the game. She got more opportunities to carry the ball through the season as she learned from Paetsch.
The Valkyries used David primarily to run sweeps around the end, because of her speed and agility to get around corners. But with defences making adjustments, David learned to run up the middle, too. By her second year, she was the feature back, while Paetsch moved primarily to the defensive side of the ball because of injuries and personal preference. Eventually, David became a triple threat as a dangerous receiver and kick returner as well.
Both David's parents made trips from B.C. last year to watch her play in different games. Her dad and step-mom came out to watch what turned into a thrilling 48-45 win over Regina.
"That was really exciting that my dad came out for," said David. "That was the first time he'd seen me play. I convinced them both to come out. All of my dad's family is here - my aunts and uncles and my grandma - so they all came out to that one."
And then her mom and step-dad were there to see David win last year's championship game.
The team that is on the verge of a fourth straight championship has changed drastically. Only eight players remain from the 2011 team.
This year, the Valkyries featured 22 rookies on their original 46-player roster and were anticipating a rebuilding year. Instead, they put together the best regular season in franchise history, outscoring opponents 194-7. David has stepped up to become a leader and teacher for the younger players, a role she is well-suited for.
One of the players that has benefitted most from David's mentorship has been fellow rookie starting running back Sam Matheson.
"I can go up to her and ask her anything," said Matheson who has 11 touchdowns this year. "And she'll go through it with me and not only tell me what to do, but teach me and help me so I actually know. (It) make(s) me learn better."
Although it is Matheson's first year playing tackle football, she has played rugby for several years. One of last year's recruits on Matheson's rugby team was David herself, who had never played before. Her eyes light up when she talks about rugby.
"I'm so mad at my parents now. They should have (chosen rugby) for me!" she jokes.
Between rugby and football, David has found a lot of success and a lot of fun in recent years. She would love to see more girls try football.
"Don't be scared to join," David tells young girls. "I know playing a new sport, no matter how old you are, can be scary, but just go out and try it.
"These girls are my family now. They'll be my friends for the rest of my life. It's not only a wonderful experience learning this new amazing game, but I have this whole family now."
drice@thestarphoenix.com
JULIE DAVID'S HIGHLIGHT-REEL TOUCHDOWNS:
In a 2012 game against the Manitoba Fearless David had only five carries, but scored four touchdowns on 238 yards rushing.
David had a 93-yard kick return touchdown in 2013 against the Regina Riot.
She ran the opening kickoffback for a 78-yard touchdown in a game this year against Regina.
David scored six touchdowns in one game and five in another, as well as four majors in four different games (the latest on June 15) and three touchdowns in four other games (the latest on June 22).
