Regina football player wins NFL Canada Way to Play award

Sienna Berns is the first female winner of the NFL Canada Way to Play award. (GarethDillistone/CTVNews)

Sienna Berns, a 16-year-old defensive back for the Regina Victorias, has become the first female recipient of the NFL Canada Way to Play Award.

The award is presented weekly during Canadian NFL broadcasts on CTV and recognizes players across the country who exemplify proper play and technique on the field.

Berns, who also plays for Saskatchewan’s provincial U-18 female tackle football team, was chosen for the award during this past week’s set of games.

"I was very grateful and very surprised as well,” Berns said. “My mom is kind of a bad liar. So she was trying to get me to watch this commercial. I was so confused that I didn't know why.”

Berns grew up playing soccer but was drawn in by a different kind of football.

“I always saw boys playing football at recess and always tried to play them, I was not very good,” Berns said. “And I decided to get better, you know, I wanted to play."

She did get better – especially after she joined the Victorias at the earliest possible age.

“She played DB because she was a little bit small. So that kind of put her out on the outside of the field where we tend to put our smaller players,” said Aimee Kowalski, who coaches Berns on the Victorias. “But you know, she's actually grown into a stronger, faster athlete.”

"There's a spot for everybody. It doesn't matter your body type or how, like what your athleticism is,” Berns said.

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Driven not by size, but hard work and strong technique, Berns now plays a variety of positions on the defensive side of the ball including linebacker and even defensive line along with special teams.

“She's not a big person, but she can handle that assignment because she does everything, you know, the way that she should be doing it and always at 100 per cent,” Kowalski said. “She's a great form tackler as well as a great ball carrier.”

The Way to Play Award also comes with a $3,000 equipment grant for Regina Minor Football.

Berns hopes her win will inspire other girls to try football. She may be the first, but she doesn’t want to be the last.