Player's Guide to Western Women's Canadian Football League Ages 16+ 2025

Before you play in any WWCFL sanctioned event (including jamborees, exhibition games and league games) you must:

1. Register with your local Provincial Sport Organization (PSO).
2. Register with the WWCFL Registrar using the WWCFL Registrar form.
3. Sign and submit the WWCFL Waiver.

An unregistered player is suspended for her next game, including regular season or playoffs. If you cannot produce satisfactory player documentation within 48 hours of being asked, your team is fined $25 (fines rise for repeat occurrences), and results of games you played in can be disallowed or points forfeited.

The WWCFL can refuse to register you or let you play if you cannot produce a birth certificate (or satisfactory medical certificate) when asked.

Source: WWCFL By-laws (October 2025), 5.01 and 5.02.

• You cannot register for more than one WWCFL team in a playing season.
• To move from a team you are already registered with, you need a release from your current team before you register or take part in any events with the new team. The release goes to the WWCFL Registrar with your registration, and to the new team. Without it you cannot play or take part in any WWCFL events until the Registrar receives it.
• You do not need a release if you have not been registered with the WWCFL for an entire year or season.
• If you quit a team within a season, you can re-register only with the team you quit.
• If you have trouble getting a release, you can appeal to the Board for review.
• Transfers are granted at the sole discretion of the home team or at the request of the WWCFL.

Source: WWCFL By-laws (October 2025), 5.01f and 5.04a-f.

• New to the league: if you have never played in the WWCFL, you may attend practices, camps and meetings for more than one team before you register. Once you register with a team, you must tell the other teams, who must then stop communicating with you.
• Existing WWCFL players: a team that knowingly recruits a player from an opposing team (by phone, social media, letters, emails or meeting in person to convince her to switch) is fined $250, and the people involved may be suspended from WWCFL activity for 1 year. Attending an open-house event or signing up for a public newsletter does not count as being knowingly recruited.

Source: WWCFL By-laws (October 2025), 6.01-6.03.

• A newly registered player must be registered for at least 50% of the current regular season games and must be present at a minimum of one regular season game to play in the playoffs.
• Injured players must also be registered for at least 50% of the current season's games to be eligible for the playoffs. The player's team (coaches, trainers or medical staff) decides whether an injured player is safe to return to active status.
• Exhibition games, pre-season games and jamborees do not count towards eligibility.
• Each team submits a sign-in sheet with player names and signatures within 48 hours after each game. If you do not sign in for a game, you may not be eligible for the playoffs.

Source: WWCFL By-laws (October 2025), 5.04g-h and 8.02.

• Seven lower body pads at all times at league sanctioned events: a tail pad, 2 hip pads, 2 thigh pads and 2 knee pads.
• Footwear and mouthguard must meet the guidelines in the current Canadian Amateur Rule Book for Tackle Football.
• Visors must be clear, not tinted. No medical exceptions are allowed.
• Altering equipment in a way that may cause injury to another person means immediate disqualification from that game and at least the next scheduled game.
• Hearing devices: only medically prescribed devices (such as hearing aids) are allowed, with medical certification approved by the WWCFL before your first regular season game, or your first game wearing the device.
• Team staff are responsible for making sure every player is fully equipped, properly fitted and instructed in the safe use of the equipment.

Source: WWCFL By-laws (October 2025), 14.01-14.06 and 15.02.

• Games are governed by the current Canadian Amateur Rule Book for Tackle Football, except where the WWCFL by-laws say otherwise.
• The WWCFL plays 12-person football. A team cannot start a game with fewer than 18 active players.
• Games need at least 5 on-field officials and 1 timekeeper scheduled; a game cannot proceed with fewer than 4 on-field officials.
• Spectators must stay 3 yards back from the sideline.
• Only team members registered with the WWCFL and their provincial governing body are allowed on team benches.
• The only electronic device allowed to communicate with a player from the sideline is an in-helmet radio that does not alter the helmet's structure.
• The game ball is a leather, youth-sized ball. Visiting teams cannot substitute their own balls.

Source: WWCFL By-laws (October 2025), 8.04, 10.0, 10.03, 10.04, 13.04, 14.07 and 15.01.

• Regular season games must start between 11:00am and 2:00pm. Prairie Conference games are played on Sundays and Western Conference games on Saturdays.
• Both teams can agree otherwise in writing, emailed to the Commissioner at least one month before the first game of the season.
• Playoff games, including the Championship, are played on Saturdays and must start between 11:00am and 2:00pm. The Championship must start between 11:00am and 5:00pm.
• Games are only postponed in extreme field or weather conditions, at the referee's discretion.
• On game day the visiting team must be given field access one hour before game time and dressing room access two hours before.

Source: WWCFL By-laws (October 2025), 9.01, 9.02 and 16.01-16.02.

Standings are won-lost-tied percentage (wins divided by games played, with a tie counting as half a win). Ties are broken in this order: 1) record in games between the tied teams, 2) net points in those games, 3) record against the highest-ranked team in the conference standings, working down, 4) record against all common opponents, 5) record within the conference, 6) net points against common opponents, 7) net points within the conference, 8) net points in all games, 9) coin toss.

Mercy rule: if a team leads by 35 points or more at any time in the second half, the game clock switches to running time for the rest of the game. It does not go back to stop time even if the gap closes below 35.

Source: WWCFL By-laws (October 2025), 10.01 and 10.02.

• The top 4 teams in each conference make the playoffs. First plays fourth and second plays third, and the winners meet in their Conference Final.
• If a conference has three teams, second and third play a semi-final, and the winner plays first place in the Conference Final.
• Conference playoff games are played at the home of the highest-ranked team.
• The two Conference Final winners play for the WWCFL Championship. The Championship is hosted by the champion of one conference, rotating between the Prairie and Western Conferences each year (the Western Conference hosted in 2024).
• The Board may approve a different playoff structure in years when the Women's World Championships are held.
• For the final, the home team is decided by regular season rankings only.

Source: WWCFL By-laws (October 2025), 9.04, 9.05 and 15.04.

• The opposing team is awarded a 30-0 win.
• The forfeiting team is fined $5,000 if it notified the Commissioner by 8:00pm (Commissioner's time zone) on the Thursday before the game, and confirmation was received. The fine is $7,000 if it did not.
• Fines must be paid before the team's next game or within 30 days, whichever comes first. The Board can issue a lesser fine for unforeseen or emergency circumstances or compassionate reasons, but this is not automatic if the cause is being unable to field the 18 active players needed to start.
• A team called off by the referee for unsportsmanlike behaviour or unruliness automatically forfeits.

Source: WWCFL By-laws (October 2025), 9.02e and 9.03.

Medical cover: at every game each team must have someone on the sideline who is not playing and who has the training, knowledge and certification to assess injuries, give medical attention and assess possible concussions. The host team must also have an Emergency Action Plan and a named contact responsible for putting it into operation.

Coaches: all WWCFL coaches must complete Making Headway in Football and Safe Contact before the season starts.

Maltreatment complaints: these go to the accused person's Provincial Sport Organization through its ITP Sport reporting tool or safe sport policy. The WWCFL Executive will not investigate or comment on them; it can only direct you to the right channel.

Game discipline is handled separately through the WWCFL Game Discipline Policy.

Source: WWCFL By-laws (October 2025), 11.01, 11.02, 12.03, 12.08 and 15.05.