October 15, 2007 -
A 7th grade Sandi Waters was asked to jot
down which sports she might be interested in playing for the year. A
friend suggested she write football because she was a big fan of the sport. As her teacher
(who turned out to be the football coach) walked around and saw her
answer he told her to “pick another sport.” For the next several
years she did just that; she played basketball, soccer, ran track
and field, but the football bug was festering underneath. In 2002
her husband Glen saw an article in the newspaper about tryouts for a
new woman’s football team and she knew she had to tryout. Six years
later she is still with the same team. Coach Val was asked about
Sandi’s leadership and has said that since the middle of the 2003
season she has lead by example by being at practice and working hard
so that she and her teammates become better football players. Even
in the face of an overwhelming situation “Sandi maintains a positive
outlook, digs deep, and does her best.”
There are many faces of our Sandi Bowen. She is a
college graduate. She graduated from Bowling Green State University
in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science in Education with a Sports
Management Major, Specializing in Athletic Training (certified in
January of 2007). She is an entrepreneur. She owns and operates a
commercial window cleaning company and she and Glen will soon be
opening their own restaurant. She is a certified massage therapist
who has worked with Olympians. She is also a politician. Sandi is a
city councilwoman for her Village and is currently running to be
Mayor of that village. She is the stepmother to two boys, Nathan 20,
and Joshua 18. She has been married to Glen for 5 ½ years. Coach Val
admits she is busy and says “her ability to take on a variety of
tasks with minimal confusion and without complaint is a big part of
what makes her effective as a football player.”
In, what spare time she has, Sandi enjoys running,
in-line skating, scrap booking and drawing. Spending time with her
family is number one on her list of priorities. A close second is
being an active member in her church and singing with the choir. And
yet in her busy life she still has time and makes time with certain
sacrifices, to play football.
In her five seasons to date she has had many injuries
including a seriously fractured finger that kept her out of four
games, broken ribs, pulled muscles, numerous bruises, and even a
black eye (hence the enduring nickname of “One-Eye”). When asked
about her injuries she replies “I don’t want to scare anyone with
the injuries, but they can and do happen.” Was it all worth it? “It
is and I would do it over again even if I knew what was going to
happen.”
Sandi remembers the first year when they practiced in
a mall that had a “Hoops” basketball court. They would lay out mats
to help avoid injury (it didn’t work all that well she claims). She
has many satisfying memories that give her an “awesome feeling,”
among them are an interception, numerous fumble recoveries, a couple
of sacks, a blocked punt, and the best – making great tackles.
Of all of her lifetime accomplishments, Sandi rates
them as follows…
*Greatest Thing she has done in her Life: Marry her
husband Glen, who makes it to every game and is her greatest fan and
biggest supporter.
*Greatest Football Accomplishment: Last year’s number
of tackles (she plans on beating that this year).
*Greatest Personal Accomplishment: Will be the
opening of her restaurant “Sandi’s Village Café.”
Throughout all she has accomplished and become, Sandi
continues to learn life lessons through football. She has learned to
adapt to change and always have fun. She has learned to follow
instruction and that just when she thinks she can’t push her body
any further, she can! She realizes what she can accomplish by
challenging not just her physical limits, but her mental ones, too.
A lesson we can all learn is one she says best: “I learned the power
of a team and how if we worked together we could accomplish a lot.”
Sandi’s personal motto is “I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me.” When all is said and done, when other things could
have drawn her elsewhere Sandi has “always felt inside that (she)
was a SPITFIRE!” Coach Val agrees, “Sandi was meant to play
football.”
