Duchene lives family dream playing for WWCFL’s Valkyries

Sure-handed receiver in second season with storied squad

By Darren Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex

Jada Duchene (#3) jets downfield after making a catch.

Jada Duchene is living her dream and her family’s dream when she suits up and catches passes for the Saskatoon Valkyries.

Jada is the eldest daughter of the WWCFL’s team’s general manager, Michelle, who has served in that role for the club since its inception in 2011. Jada and her younger sister, Halle, grew up with the Valkyries in their lives and had a unique understanding of the storied squad due to their mom’s role with the team.

Football has a deep history in the Duchene family as Jada’s father, Eric, played in the CJFL with the Kelowna, B.C., based Okanagan Sun in the 1990s before suiting up for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Football Team for five seasons from 1999 to 2003. Playing football was never pushed on either Jada or Halle, and Michelle and Eric supported them in any sports they chose to play or any activities they wanted to participate in.

Jada, who is 20-years-old and completed her second year of studies at the University of Saskatchewan, is happy the current day is here where she is playing with the Valkyries. As a rookie last year, she made some key contributions helping the Valkyries win their 10^th WWCFL title.

“I knew that I always wanted to play one day,” said Jada. “I was a very high-level volleyball player growing up and basketball, but pretty much volleyball by the time I hit Grade 12.

“I decided that I didn’t want to move away anywhere, so I thought that why not play football. I played flag my whole life. I knew that I loved it, so I thought I’ll give tackle a try.

“I never got the chance to try it in high school, so I gave it a try last year, and now, here I am.”

Jada was five-year-old when the Valkyries played their first season back in 2011. She has lots of memories of the Valkyries playing in their early years. Some of her favourite players included her aunt and defensive back Carisa Polischuk, quarterback Candace Bloomquist, running back Julie Paetsch, defensive back Darla Lee-Walde and receiver Marci (Kiselyk) Halseth.

Lee-Walde was once one of Jada’s coaches in flag football. Halseth is the Valkyries offensive coordinator in the current day.

Jada looks back fondly at being around the Valkyries in their formative years when she was little.

Jada Duchene, right, secures the ball after a catch in traffic.

“I just remember even like the first camps being indoors and like at random times of the year,” said Jada, who is also a member of the University of Saskatchewan Women’s Flag Football Team. “I was always running around following my mom hanging up the jerseys in the locker room for the team.

“I was so excited to be there watching all the games. It started at Griffiths (Stadium). It was pretty cool watching it all come together, and I remember when my mom was trying to figure out a name and everything.

“It is pretty cool to be able to say I’m on the team now.”

When Jada was approaching her graduation from Holy Cross High School in June of 2024, Michelle knew her eldest daughter had options to pursue sports playing opportunities. Michelle admitted she was unsure what choice Jada would make.

“I didn’t know,” said Michelle. “She definitely had opportunities to go play university and college ball, whether it was volleyball or basketball.

“It was a big decision for her to make, and then she decided to commit to football and the flag and tackle. We were pretty excited. I was nervous though just like any other parent.

“It feels a little bit different when your kid is on the field. I was super excited for her to really delve into the football world and see all the benefits of it, all the people you meet, and the friends that you make and learning the sport at a new level.”

After Jada started playing for the Valkyries last season, it was an emotional and meaningful moment for Michelle.

“It was super exciting, and it was always kind of a dream of mine,” said Michelle. “I’ve always said we do it for all the girls, but obviously, it was important to me that my girls had an opportunity to do this, if that is what they wanted to try to do.

“Hopefully one day, Halle is going to be done her hockey career, and she’ll come back and try playing as well. That is what she wants to do. It is definitely a goal for her as well.”

Jada Duchene makes a catch at a Valkyries practice on January 26, 2025.

Michelle admitted it might be a while before Halle plays for the Valkyries. She is a star forward with the Saskatoon Stars Female Under-18 AAA Hockey Team and is slated to graduate from Holy Cross this coming June.

Halle has committed to play for the Mercyhurst University Lakers Women’s Hockey Team in the NCAA Division I ranks in the fall in Erie, Pennsylvania. After her time in the NCAA is completed, Halle would like to play in the PWHL.

With that noted, Michelle has lots of warm memories of Jada and Halle being around the Valkyries when they were kids.

“Like honestly, I put both the girls to work,” said Michelle. “They loved coming to practices and games too.

“I used to set up the locker room. They would come, and they would help me set it up, put the jerseys up and the pants out. I have this cute picture actually of Jada.

“She was like, I don’t know, six years old, and she is carrying like six helmets walking into the soccer centre. They loved to come and help and be a part of it, and they looked up to all the girls.”

Last season, a number of veteran receivers elected to move in different directions in their lives and not return to the Valkyries. As a result, Jada found herself in a starting role.

“It was honestly crazy,” said Jada. “I never expected to be a starting player, but there were only six of us (at receiver) when we started the season.

“I got thrown in. I started as a slot and got moved around a little bit, but pretty much stayed at slot. It was pretty cool to have the team trust me enough to get put in right away.”

Jada also just completed her season playing for the U of S flag team at Football Canada’s Canadian Collegiate Flag Football Championship that ran May 1 to 3 in Regina. As a result, Jada finds herself on the football field lots training for both teams in April.

“It can be pretty tough,” said Jada. “We have practice twice a week, lift once a week for flag and then practice twice a week for Valks.

Jada Duchene (#3) makes a catch and run in the rain.

“It gets pretty busy, but it is all pretty spread out. (Valkyries star middle linebacker) Emmarae (Dale) is our flag coach, so she knows to not keep us too busy. It is pretty good.”

When it comes to playing for the Valkyries, Jada said it was special that the rest of the players on the team accepted her right away.

“They’re so awesome,” said Jada. “They were so inviting to me last year.

“I didn’t know if it was just because they all knew my mom. Seeing how they treat everyone else, it is just an amazing environment. I just love being around them.

“Coming to see them every day, they’re some of my best friends.”

Jada has had a strong start to her second season with the Valkyries. In their regular season opener on April 26 against the host Riot at Leibel Field in Regina, Jada caught a game high eight passes including a 13-yard touchdown reception to power the Valkyries to a 15-7 victory.

The Valkyries open their home schedule hosting the Winnipeg based Manitoba Fearless on Sunday, May 17 at 1 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field on the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds. They will once again face the Riot on Sunday, May 24 at 1 p.m. at SMF Field.

Still, Jada’s biggest joy has been the fact she has been able to be a Valkyries player while Michelle is still the team’s general manager. They got to share a forever moment as player and general manager along with being daughter and mother on June 28, 2025, when the Valkyries blanked the host Edmonton Arctic Pride 28-0 in the WWCFL title contest at Commonwealth Stadium.

“It is pretty special,” said Jada. “I love being able to come to practice and games and have my mom right there on the sideline.

“I always hoped for this, and I’m glad it came sooner rather than later, so she could still be here on the sideline with me. It is amazing.”

It has also been a lifetime highlight for Michelle as well to still be the Valkyries general manager and see Jada join the team as a player.

“It is super cool,” said Michelle. “We can go home and talk football.

“Even watching football, when you’re not immersed in it, you don’t watch it the same. Being able to watch and talk about the game with her as a family, it is super special. Sometimes, it can be challenging.

Michelle, left, and Jada Duchene after the 2025 WWCFL title win.

“When there are issues that come up, I have to be very cautious and make sure that she doesn’t become involved in those things in that perspective. For the most part, it is super fun, and it is exciting. We can see each other more often, and I get to be a fan from the sideline.”

For more information on the Saskatoon Valkyries, feel free to check their website saskatoonvalkyries.com. Photo of Michelle and Jada Duchene with the WWCFL championship trophy courtesy Jada Duchene.

Forrest gets past surprise medical issues to play final Cubs season

By Darren Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex

Ethan Forrest sets to throw a pitch for the Cubs.

Ethan Forrest wants to create one last set of good memories in his final season with the Saskatoon Cubs, but he never foresaw the campaign taking an unexpected turn before it began.

As the 17-year-old second baseman and relief pitcher was training at Inside Pitch Saskatoon over the winter months, he started to notice what he believed was regular pain in his right throwing arm. At first, Forrest thought it was something that was going to go away.

The pain never went away. At a Cubs practice shortly before the under-18 AAA baseball club began playing exhibition games, Forrest asked the team’s coaches about the pain he was experiencing and a pattern that had developed on his arm. The coaches told their veteran player to see a doctor.

“It got really bad in kind of my armpit area, kind of the lat area, and that is when I knew it wasn’t any normal pain,” said Forrest. “I could hardly lift my arm.

“That is when we went into the hospital, and then I was diagnosed with a blood clot. A couple of weeks later, it was removed, but they found I had thoracic outlet syndrome. It is usually a pitcher syndrome.

“Max Scherzer in the MLB is just suffering from it right now. He is just getting off rehab for it. It is just kind of where you get a little bit of kind of build up of scar tissue from overuse and right under your clavicle bone there in your neck, and then it pinches off and kind of just forms a clot or you’ll have nerve damage.”

Scherzer, who is an ace right-handed pitcher who helped the Texas Rangers win the World Series last year, started his MLB season with a lengthy stay on the injured list with neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome in his throwing arm. He saw his first action with the Rangers on June 23.

When Forrest first got his diagnosis, he thought he might miss the Cubs season.

Ethan Forrest was diagnosed with a blood clot.

“When they told me I had a blood clot, it is a pretty scary thing,” said Forrest, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 170 pounds. “The pain went away really quickly with the blood thinners, and I was playing almost a week later in pre-season.

“I didn’t know if it was going to be months or a few days. I was scared to miss the season for sure.”

Forrest has been thankful that everything that has been done to treat his blood clot and manage his thoracic outlet syndrome has worked. It allowed him to return to action with the Cubs in quick order.

Having just graduated Grade 12 from Holy Cross High School, Forrest has committed to joining the Miles Community College Pioneers Baseball Team in Miles City, Montana. He will play second base and third base for the Pioneers, who are part of the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II ranks.

At the moment, Forrest is still taking blood thinners every day, and that has allowed him to play for the Cubs. He is considering options to further deal with his thoracic outlet syndrome after the Cubs season comes to an end.

“I just kind of have to be careful now,” said Forrest, who will turn 18-years-old on July 29. “Now, I play and lift weights with no pain anymore.

“The next step we are doing is just deciding with surgery and stuff before I head to college and what that is going to look like. We have to decide if we’re going to go with surgery now or not. We don’t really know yet.”

Once Forrest’s medical diagnosis was clear, Cubs co-head coach Jordan Frey said the team’s focus was to help the veteran standout get healed up.

“Obviously, it wasn’t something we wanted to deal with or foresaw coming, but it was something we did have to deal with,” said Frey. “We talked with him lots and wanted to make sure that he had our support as a coaching staff and as a team.

Ethan Forrest is dealing with thoracic outlet syndrome.

“Whatever decision he wanted to go down whether it was getting surgery or not being able to finish the rest of the year, we supported that decision. His health came first and foremost. Just to see him back on the field just shows how much he cares about the game and wants to be on our team and be a leader.”

Frey said the Cubs coaches weren’t worried if Forrest had to miss a few games or a lengthy amount of time to possibly the whole season. The team’s coaches were pumped, when Forrest made a quick return.

With that noted, Forrest’s workload on the pitching mound has been managed as he comes back from his medical challenges. When Forrest has come in to play relief, the Cubs coaches at first tried to limit him to an inning or two.

On June 30 at Cairns Field, the Cubs brain trust allowed Forrest to go a little longer. Forrest pitched an efficient three scoreless innings with one strikeout leaving the mound with the Cubs holding a 4-1 lead over the Saskatoon Diamondbacks after six innings. The Diamondbacks rallied scoring four runs in the top of the seventh to pull out a 5-4 victory after Forrest left the game.

Frey said the Cubs coaches were pretty inspired to get the superb three innings from Forrest.

“We know what we are getting with him on the mound,” said Frey. “He is going to be consistent.

“He is going to throw strikes. Thirty-three pitches in three innings is nothing we’re ever going to complain about. It is just one of those things we have to get him ramped back up again to a higher pitch count.”

Forrest has been a regular when it comes to playing second base, and Frey said his graduating veteran has been outstanding at that position.

Ethan Forrest has played regularly for the Cubs this season.

“Infielding wasn’t something he needed to take a step back on,” said Frey. “The throwing part he did a little bit.

“Obviously playing second base, it helps with a little bit of a shorter throw. Just being able to have him out there and being a third-year kid, it helps our team. You can see when he is in the lineup.

“The boys absolutely love having him around. Even when he was hurt, he was just on the bench trying to help out anyway he could.”

On offence, Forrest has gone 19-for-67 at the plate for a .284 average with 16 runs batted in as the Cubs have built a 18-8 record to battle for first place in the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League. Looking at everything he has dealt with, Forrest is pleased with his season so far.

“I feel like it is going pretty good,” said Forrest. “We’re first in the league team wise, and we’re all having a good time this year.

“The team is performing really well. Personally, I think I am having a decent year. I always have stuff to improve on obviously on the offensive side.

“I’m happy with how my pitching is going right now for sure. It has been a fun year overall for sure.”

In 2022, Forrest took part in as many Cubs practices as he could as an affiliate player. He played that campaign full time with the Saskatoon Cardinal Sluggers Under-18 AA team, and he was around Cubs when they won their Saskatchewan title in that campaign.

He moved up to the Cubs on a full-time basis in 2023 as they had another stellar year but were unable to make it to the provincial final. Forrest believes the Cubs have all the pieces to win another provincial title and qualify for nationals, or make the provincial final and earn a spot to Westerns.

Ethan Forrest believes his Cubs can win a provincial title.

Forrest said a lot of the best memories he has have been made with the Cubs. Due to the challenges he has faced on the medical front this season, Forrest believes he is cherishing his final campaign with the team in a good new way, because he hasn’t had to spend large portions of the season out of the lineup.

“As a third year especially, it is my last kind of summer season here in Saskatoon,” said Forrest. “It is going to be tough one.

“With the clot as well, I’m fortunate enough to be healthy right now and playing with no pain. Definitely, I am very appreciative to be playing right now.”