Meet Catherine Raîche, Montreal Alouettes' new assistant general manager
Raîche used to watch football with her father, never saw gender as a barrier to career with CFL
The Montreal Alouettes broke the mould when they hired Catherine Raîche, 27, as the team's new assistant general manager this week.
Raîche is young by football executive standards and she is the only woman in the CFL with "general manager" in her job title.
"This is a big honour, it really is," Raîche says.
"I am very aware of the opportunity that the Alouettes are giving me."
Raîche is a lawyer by trade and first started working for the Alouettes two years ago.
Her job was to manage the salary cap, structure player contracts and deal with club-league relations. Her promotion expands her responsibilities on the side of football operations.
- OPINION | Why is sports still a man's game?
Football was always Raîche's dream job
Raîche says her love of football started as a young girl when she would watch the games with her father.
She says she quickly became a fan of the Montreal Alouettes and her favourite player was running back Mike Pringle.
"Football was always something that interested me," Raîche says.
"When I started practising law I had an idea that someday I could become a player agent or [get] other job opportunities like this one."
But cracking into the the male-dominated world of professional sports management didn't come without its challenges. 
Inspired by another trailblazer
Raîche says she found her inspiration to pursue a career in football after studying the rise of Dawn Aponte with NFL's Miami Dolphins.
Aponte worked 25 years for the Dolphins and in 2010 rose to the title of executive vice-president of football administration, a role she held until 2016.
Raîche says Aponte showed her a career in football was possible.
"I never felt like my gender was a barrier or an obstacle that would stop me from getting to a high level position within the organization," Raîche says.
"If you do a good job and work hard, whether you're a man or a woman, at the end of the day it doesn't change anything."
Positive reaction
Raîche says the world of football has reacted positively to the news of her hire.
She says she's received notes of congratulations from other Canadian teams and many others who work in the NFL.
Her first job with the Alouettes is to prepare for the start of CFL free agency, which opens Feb. 14.
with files from Radio-Canada