‘Did I get a touchdown?’ Girls lead the way with 'powerpuff play' during football game in Moncton, N.B.

Middle linebacker Hailey Spinney (left) and wide receiver Avry Wortman are teammates on the Raiders in the Greater Moncton Football Association.

When she was tackled in the end zone at Moncton’s Rocky Stone Field last Sunday, Avry Wortman didn’t realize she had scored a touchdown.

“I didn’t know I did it until I got up,” said Wortman.

She ran to her teammate Hailey Spinney, who was one of the lead blockers on the scoring play.

“She asked me, ‘Did I get a touchdown?’ Like, yes you did Avry,” said Spinney.

Both girls are members of the Raiders, an under 14 (U14) team in the Greater Moncton Football Association.

Wortman’s tight end Ella Kamel was also out front blocking for her teammate on the play. All three were part of the “powerpuff play,” which is named after the cartoon show “Powerpuff Girls” that features three young girls who have superpowers.

“That was just awesome,” said Kamel. “Everything went according to plan. We all just worked together and it just happened.”

Raiders Head Coach Chris Clem came up with the idea for the play.

“It’s something I threw in for fun. It’s Ella and Hailey lead blocking for Avry. It was a handoff, she ran up and scored a touchdown,” said Clem.

Wortman went on to score another touchdown in the team’s victory over the Mustangs. It was the first win for the Raiders this year after going winless last season. It was also the first touchdown scored by a girl in the league in a long time.

“It’s been years,” said Clem. “We don’t officially keep stats, but I know for sure it’s been at least three or four years for one touchdown, let alone two.”

Wortman’s father, Luke Wortman said it was a real shock to see his daughter score twice.

“She just started football and she’s taken a huge interest in it and I was surprised they had a girl’s play that managed to get two touchdowns. It was great,” said Luke.

There are other girls playing in the six-team league, but the Raiders are the only squad with three girls on their roster.

Raiders assistant coach Kaylee Cormier and tight end Ella Kamel at Rocky Stone Field in Moncton.

Twelve-year-old Kamel has been playing for a while, but it’s the first year for 13-year-olds Wortman and Spinney.

“I like tackling kids,” said Spinney. “It’s pretty fun.” She said her teammates treat the girls on the team like “one of the guys.”

“They include us in everything. They don’t exclude us.”

Wortman said the boys on her team don’t treat her differently but it’s a different story when they face their opponents on the field.

“They’re not as friendly as our team,” said Wortman.

Grade 12 student Kaylee Cormier plays quarterback at Harrison Trimble High School and is an assistant coach with the Raiders.

“It’s about proving that girls can play football too. Just proving people wrong about it,” said Kaylee. There are close to 100 girls playing on four high school varsity teams in the Greater Moncton area.

Although they worked on the powerpuff play during Saturday’s practice, there’s no guarantee they’ll run it again when they face their rivals from Riverview under the lights on Monday night.

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