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“It’s been great, but when (girls) first came on the team we were like, ‘Wow some girls want to play a man’s sport.’ But when we see everybody on the field, it’s just like a big family,” said Turcot. “When we put them in their position, we just tell them what they need to do and when they do it, it’s just like they were born to do it. Those girls are athletes.”

Have there been challenges? Yes but, Roy stresses, mostly because with change comes adjustment.

Photo by David Kawai / Postmedia

“Any change you do — especially a dramatic change like bringing girls or women in football — is a huge change because it’s an old boys’ club, right? And so growing pains — we know there’s going to be some, but we are going to work with the players themselves. We are learning things right off the top, but we have a really good training program and we want to make sure we recruit well and keep them. There are seven positions in football, and we are trying to find the right fit for the right person.”

The girls have their own locker rooms, but when they’re in the game it’s an even playing field. They wear the same uniforms, although the girls’ helmets and shoulder pads require slight adjustments.

Roy says all players are coached based on their roles, and with equal treatment comes equal demands.

“They don’t get special treatment because they’re girls,” said Roy. “We want to treat them equally. Are they going to be coached a little differently? You have to, like most of the players on our team, most positions on our team. We are not doing any favours. We just want to make sure that we give them the right support they need, and they are guiding us through the whole process.”