Football makes people happy, no matter their gender.

Forty young women aged 10-17 were all smiles as they took to the field at Fan Fest in Winnipeg Thursday to learn the basics of the game.

It’s the second year the girls flag football clinic has been hosted at Mark’s CFL Week, all in an effort to introduce more females to the gridiron.

We chatted with Vanessa Morbi, the CFL’s Vice President of Marketing, on this initiative.

Q: Why was it important to the CFL to bring girls flag football to Mark’s CFL Week?

M: It’s really important to the CFL to encourage young women and girls to participate in football. I think we’ve seen a lot of interest in our communities, especially in our CFL communities. We have a really incredible fan base and I think that is very apparent when we see the type of participation and the type of interest that we’ve seen in this program. So we think it’s extremely important and we sort of go beyond that. We’ve included girls and women in a lot of initiatives that we’re doing. For example, in our new video game, you can create your own female avatar so you don’t have to play as a male so we like to think of it as a part of everything that we do.

Q: Why are girls your target audience?

M: I think that we need to speak to them specifically and know that they’re invited to participate and that this is something that is open to them and that it’s fun and exciting and it’s really about bringing them into the game. When you watch a game on television there’s not a female presence on the field so it’s really just telling them that there is a place in the sport for them and that this is a great access point for them and a great way to get active and take part in a really great game.

Q: What has the feedback been so far?

M: The feedback so far has been absolutely tremendous and really it’s been a larger initiative that we have to target younger audiences in general so we are looking at those audiences in general across a lot of our different programs and products, including the video game that I mentioned. We are looking to stay younger and just do something a little bit more special for that demographic at the league level. Our teams obviously do a fantastic job at engaging with that age group but for us at the league, we’re trying to find more ways to engage ourselves.

Q: What was the players’ response to girls flag football?

M: They were so excited about it. I can’t even tell you the number of players who have young girls themselves and so they obviously see their kids in these young girls. They’re really, really excited about it and our players are so good with the kids and with the young girls and it’s really important to them to be involved, excited and enthusiastic and they always are.

Q: Where do you see this event in the future?

M: Really we just want to grow participation in football. That’s really the end objective and we want to get kids active in a sport that is very Canadian, that has a rich history in Canada and in all of our cities. So it’s really about building that participation.

Q: Would you encourage your daughter to play flag football?

M: Absolutely! It’s a great sport, it’s non-contact, it’s a great way to get outside, run around, get exhausted, have fun with your teammates – it’s a fantastic sport.