Female Alberta goalkeeper fighting to play in men’s league
Posted May 4, 2018 7:33 am.
Last Updated May 4, 2018 10:02 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Stephanie Labbé has challenged herself many times on the soccer field, but she still has some barriers to break down.
The Edmonton-born goalkeeper technically made the Calgary Foothills FC team, but her gender means she won’t be able to play in an official game.
Coach Tommy Wheeldon told CityNews when Labbe approached him about becoming part of the team, he was excited about a great player coming together with a great club.
“I said look, if you can keep the ball out of the net, we don’t pick on gender, we pick on ability,” Wheeldon said.
And, Labbé knew it wouldn’t be easy.
“I knew coming in that I was gonna have to earn the guy’s trust and earn their respect, but since day one I think they’ve seen that I’m a professional,” Labbé told CityNews.
“I’ve shown that I can compete and physically, I’ve shown that I can keep up.”
But they were both surprised to learn the Premier Development League’s rulebook says no women are allowed.
“This had never been done before, so they had never really been asked the question,” Labbé said.
Wheeldon tells CityNews, the 31-year-old player is a world-class athlete, who holds herself to high standards.
“And when she’s here, she wants to win like the guys do,” he said.
“It is more probably a technicality, so all we’re hoping at this is that those rules can be reviewed for perhaps another national team player down the line that could be in it.”
It’s late for Labbé to play this season, but she’s not giving up.
“As a female soccer player in Canada, we don’t have a professional league here, so there’s nowhere for me to play professionally here in Canada, so this is to me, the best option and the more that we can challenge that and make more options available to females — because if we’re good enough, we’re good enough,” Labbé said.
“I think what’s so exciting about this is the conversation that’s now happening.”
Until then, Wheeldon said Labbé is more than welcome to play exhibition games and keep training with the team.
