Maya Turner becomes the first woman to be named a Canada West football all-star

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The pioneering career of University of Manitoba kicker Maya Turner received another accolade this week, when the footballing trailblazer became the first female in the history of U Sports to be named a Canada West all-star.

Coming off a season where she went 12-for-16 on field goals in the regular season – her 75-per-cent conversion rate led the Canada West conference and placed her 10th overall across the country – Turner helped the Bison to a 7-2 record. Their season came to an end last Saturday in a narrow 28-25 loss to the University of Regina Rams in the Canada West semi-final.

“I’m so honoured to be selected along with these other great players in our conference,” she said in a statement posted to the team’s website. ”I owe it to our special teams unit and the team over all for setting me up for success.”

In her second year as the school’s starting kicker, Turner has converted 21 regular-season field goals for the Bison, which is the seventh-most in school history. She is the first player since Scott Dixon 16 years ago to convert at least three-quarters of her field goals in consecutive seasons, and she tied her career long with a 48-yarder in Week 6 against the University of Saskatchewan, which was the eighth-longest of any kicker in U Sports this season.

A Minnesota native, Turner was originally an NCAA Division I soccer player for the Loyola University Chicago before switching to football three years ago and relocating to Canada.

”We knew that Maya Turner was a very good kicker from the first time we saw her film. We saw her as an athlete, a kicker, not ‘a girl who could kick.’ She has earned her position as a starter and she’s earned the respect of her teammates and opponents,” said Bison head coach Brian Dobie.

“Her all-star selection is further validation of the excellent football player that she has become.”