This football season, I wanted to reach out to an important part of our fan base I think we should be engaged with year round – our female fans!

My goal is to erase the stereotype that women “can’t” like football and I believe once we answer your questions, you’ll be asking your football loving hubbies, boyfriends or pals to grab you a drink, because you’re watching the game!

The beautiful thing about female football fans is that, like the men, there are diehards and there are the casual fans. Stampeder events such as It’s A Snap, held every April for the last 27 years, help fuel the passion for football with ladies in and around Calgary. My hope is that this blog will serve as an extension of It’s a Snap throughout the football season, answering the questions you have that you’re not comfortable asking someone else or simply because I have the access to the team to get you the answers!

Speaking of It’s A Snap, I wanted to highlight the unique event for our first blog entry because of its rich history in teaching, creating and entertaining female football fans.

If you haven’t been, It’s A Snap pairs you with Stampeder players and coaches for hands-on drills and classroom teaching. You can even catch a pass from Bo Levi Mitchell and dance in the endzone – not even the boys have access like the girls get! After you’ve experienced the on-field and classroom sessions, there’s wine and appies in the locker-room (PS – there’s no food or wine ever allowed in the locker room!) and participants are able to mix and mingle with the players and coaches for the rest of the night.

This past April, we invited football newbie and seven-time Canadian Long Drive Champion Lisa (Longball) Vlooswyck to be a part of the festivities. This was her feedback: “What an incredible night at It’s a Snap, a women’s only football event! I got to kick a field goal and do an epic touchdown celly! QB Bo Levi Mitchell and Deron Mayo taught us football is all about the celly! I learned so much about football and can’t wait to go to a game!”

Dallas Kitt, manager of events with Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation, organizes and oversees the two-night event every April and says the long running success of the endeavour speaks for itself.

“The first time ladies are always blown away,” says Kitt. “They had no idea, they have so much fun, they can’t wait to tell all their friends and they want to go to a game. We get a lot of returning ladies also who come year after year.”

“Sometimes football can be intimidating, especially when you don’t know a lot about it, but you want to learn. So we create a really inviting and casual environment with people who are there for the same reason, just to go out and have a really good time.”

If you’ve never attended an It’s A Snap event, consider doing so. If you’re a first-timer, I promise it’s fun. If you’re a diehard, you’ll love kicking field-goals with Rene Paredes or asking head coach Dave Dickenson about his offensive schemes.

Last week, I sent out a tweet looking for your questions you want answered in the blog. Thank you to everyone who responded (we even had some guys ask questions!) and I promise we’ll get to them all within the blog soon. If you have a football related query, tweet me at @AlannaNolan!

Lastly, ladies, I know football can seem like there’s a lot going on and a lot of rules that only apply to the CFL. I’m confident that together, we can fill McMahon’s seats with new fans like you and have you follow along just like a pro!

Nolan’s next It’s A Snap blog will appear on Stampeders.com on July 23