High hopes for female kicker

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This article was published 18/04/2022 (1274 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The email that may have changed Maya Turner’s life landed in Brian Dobie’s inbox in early January.

A subject line referred to “NCAA Division 1 kicker.” Dobie, head coach of the University of Manitoba Bisons football team was intrigued.

Manitoba’s veteran kicker-punter, Cole Sabourin, had used up his eligibility and the program was casting about for fresh candidates for the job.

That’s when Turner, 19, an ex-soccer player from Maple Grove, Minn., arrived on the scene.

“I think it was the third time that she reached out before I responded to her and I’m making myself sound like a really bad person… but as soon as I reached out to her, then it accelerated like crazy because of course I didn’t know her and since I started talking to her I was very impressed with her and learning more about her,” Dobie told the Free Press on Sunday.

“And as we continued to talk over several conversations, my impression of her as a person was through the roof. I mean, she was really intelligent, highly articulate and just a great kid.”

What Dobie also learned was Turner, a sophomore at Loyola University Chicago, had quit NCAA Division 1 soccer the previous August and had most recently devoted herself to learning to kick a football — a sport dominated by men — by playing for a Loyola club football team.

She was good on her only field-goal try during a game, hitting from 40 yards out.

Turner also consulted with a number of high-profile kicking coaches and attended kicking camps in Chicago and Texas.

By viewing online video, Dobie and other members of the Bisons coaching staff learned Turner had the makings of a good college kicker. She showed accuracy and leg strength and was almost automatic at distances under 40 yards, with an outside range of approximately 50 yards.

Her work as a punter lagged behind her kickoffs and field goals.

At the prestigious Kohl Senior Challenge camp in Texas, the 5-9 Turner was rated higher than some kickers who went on to earn Division I scholarships. By March, the Bisons were still waiting for a commitment from another veteran with U Sports experience, but Dobie wanted to find out more about Turner.

“He called me and said he had looked at my film and was definitely interested,” said Turner. “They were looking for a kicker and he was pretty impressed by my film. And he wanted to continue talking with me, and I was definitely very interested in coming to Manitoba.”

The next step was an in-person visit, which was arranged for April 9. Turner drove up to Winnipeg with her parents to assess the situation.

“I got to meet a lot of people — a lot of guys on the team and then academic staff that I’d be involved with and it was just a really great community,” said Turner. “And the facilities are really nice and the academic side is really what I’m looking forward to as well. So, after the visit, I was like, ‘Yeah, this is where I want to go.’”

After a long day of meetings, Turner hit the IG Field turf. First off a kicking stand and then, with long snapper Dolan Hills and holder Gavin Cobb on the field, she exchanged kicks with Sabourin.

“She had quite quite a leg — I mean, I don’t want to sound sexist but quite a leg for the average girl,” said Sabourin, who hopes to get a CFL tryout this spring. “She was hitting pretty consistently for about 40 yards… I would say her maximum was about 50 yards but the way coach (Dobie) likes to play, that’s plenty of range. He likes to go for the coffin corner punts and whatever else rather than hitting a long field goal…

“She was matching me kick for kick and even sometimes she was kicking better than me.”

Dobie said the online video was matched and even exceeded by Turner’s performance under tough conditions in Winnipeg.

“She was tired, she was kicking in a new place and she was kicking over the soccer goalposts at IGF because, of course, the football goalposts aren’t up and she was kicking on a very, very cool day — just slightly above zero,” said Dobie. “She literally hit every every one from about 37 (yards). Now, she became more inconsistent from there, like any kicker would.”

On Friday, Turner committed to the U of M. She will become the second woman to join the U of M football program, preceded by defensive back Reina Ilzuka who redshirted for the Bisons but never dressed for a game.

Simon Fraser University’s Kristie Elliott booted a pair of converts against Oregon’s Linfield University on Sept. 11, 2021, becoming the first Canadian woman to play and score in an NCAA football game.

Turner hopes to follow in the footsteps of Elliott and Sarah Fuller, who kicked briefly for the SEC’s Vanderbilt Commodores.

“I’ve been to a couple kicking camps and I was the only girl with only guys and at first they’re kind of looking at me, wondering how far she can actually kick it. But I was able to hold my own pretty well and compete with them,” said Turner. “And then I think they do have a bit of respect for me.”

Kicking guru Chris Nendick, who has tutored Turner and scores of college and NFL kickers, has been won over by her willingness to work.

“She showed up the first time and every kid that I trained was like, ‘Who is that?’” said the Chicago-based Nendick. “Simply because she came in — she was shy at first, which is understandable in an uncomfortable environment — but she handled herself with boys. We’ve had conversations about what college football looks like and what the challenges might be for her and she’s like, ‘Look, I’m gonna do this.’”

Dobie said Turner’s brief time in the sport, combined with good technique, suggests her chances of improving her power and range are good.

“She’s legit,” said Dobie. “I’m not saying she’s about to be first-team all-Canadian. She needs work but the work really isn’t so much on the technique. The work is on her just becoming more comfortable with it and becoming stronger and more powerful.”

Dobie hopes Turner is a long-term addition to the program, perhaps redshirting for a season (he has a verbal commitment from a veteran kicker for 2022) before becoming a regular.

“I think with buying into that strength and conditioning program that they’re going to have up there, I think it’s going to really kind of take her to a level that we’ve quite honestly, possibly never seen before,” said Nendick. “I don’t want to put those expectations on her because I don’t want her to overthink it but what she’s doing right now is pretty ground-breaking.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14