Maya Turner named 1st female captain in University of Manitoba Bisons football history

Maya Turner just keeps putting the boots to the history books for Canadian university football.

The placekicker and punter with the Manitoba Bisons — who became the first woman to score in U Sports football during a pre-season game in 2022 — is now the first female captain in the century-long history of the Bisons football program.

"It's really a huge honour and means a lot that they have that kind of respect for me, just as a player and a teammate, and that they see me as someone who's a leader and has a place on this team regardless of gender," Turner said.

The 24-year-old was named one of the team's seven captains — representing the many different positions — at the end of training camp.

Head coach Stan Pierre announced the names to the team, "and yeah, my name was in there," Turner said, still sounding a bit surprised.

"Yeah, I guess I wasn't totally expecting it."

Maya Turner was the first woman to play and score in a pre-season U Sports football game, then became the first to do it in a regular-season game, and later became the first female Canada West football all-star. (Mike Still/Manitoba Bisons Athletics)

Handing the specialist captaincy to Turner as she enters her senior year was "a pretty easy decision," Pierre said.

"Maya is an exemplary student athlete. She does everything you ask of her, and she does it at a very high level," he said.

"She's a great student, she's a great person, she works extremely hard. She doesn't miss anything and she doesn't make excuses for anything. She just does everything correct.

"I can't think of a better mentor for our young players and a better example as a leader on our football team."

It's possible Turner's the first to break that gender leadership barrier in any Canadian