November 15, 2007 - Being involved in the world of men’s semipro
football I get asked sometimes, “Why do you coach woman’s football?
They can’t run fast, hit hard or throw the ball far - so what’s the
point?” Well to my caveman brethren I ask, “Have you ever seen a
game?!” The reply is always, “No.” I tell them to check it out and
then let me know what you think.
I will be honest with you, when I first thought
about it I didn’t imagine that women would be very good at playing
football. I figured they’d run into each other and beg out of
action claiming injury over such minor items as a broken finger
nail. But I admit now that I was wrong – these women can play!
When I saw my first game I didn’t even think about the fact that
there were a bunch of woman out there playing – they were ball
players. You really can’t tell once the game starts, anyway. The
only time I realize that they are women is when we stand together as
a group and the helmets are a little lower than I'm used to. They
have speed, they have size, and believe me when I tell you they can
hit!
When I hold the tackling dummies in practice or
stand in for the O-line to play against them, I feel it the next
morning. These ladies have bruised me, hurt my elbow and blackened
my eye. They are very serious and dedicated to this sport, but the
best part is that they are willing to listen and learn. On the
men’s teams everybody’s a self-declared expert; they know it all and
do what they want, but the women will practice and practice until
they get it right. They do ask a lot of questions, but that is to
be expected.
I’ve asked my own teammates to bring their wives,
mothers, sisters, girlfriends or whoever to see the Spitfire in
action. Some say they will but never actually do. Others admit
that there’s no way they’ll do so before walking away, dragging
their knuckles as they go. But if they were to just let the female
athletes in their lives give the game a try, I bet they would love
the women’s game as much as I do.
The other benefit most fail to consider is that
the women in his life won’t complain when football is on TV at home
because they are watching it, too!!!!
Clog a Gap,
Coach Ted
