The Right Combine-nation

We may not have had ESPN watching, but there was still something at stake. Yes, at the first annual women’s football combine hosted by the WFA, the beginning of legitimized inter-team recruiting hung in the balance. What is that, you ask? The birth of the trade.

No, I doubt the winners will field phone calls and contract offers, but quantifying players’ capabilities by athletic standards as opposed to just tackles and touchdowns means generating visibility and value. Since so many team owners are present for this weekend’s festivities, they are bound to stumble upon the results of the combine’s events, and as teams like San Diego and Boston proved this year, another team’s best player is just one phone call away.

The events were somewhat predictable, but nothing short of challenging. Add to that the presence of an angry sun, and you get 103 degrees of hard work. 40 yard dash, an agility test, bench press, push up contest, sit up contest, vertical leap, and a beastly obstacle course made for quite a test.

Despite the thrill of the competition, the mood remained light and enjoyable. There is something to be said about the kind of people that attend All-star/All-American weekends. They aren’t just great
players, they are typically great people as well. The friendliest, most fun-loving of the football world are drawn to an event which focuses more on the camaraderie of the game than the combat of the gridiron.

That being said, I suspect today’s All-American game will be nothing short of intense. After last night’s two-hour practice (complete with full contact), I expect to take a few shots as I gear up for the National Conference. Stay tuned for coverage of the game as well as more on tonight’s Championship match-up.

For the Rookies

Boys have all the fun. From Pop Warner to Kurt Warner, boys can get football from cradle to grave. We’re the invaders. If we choose to dive into the world of football at a young age, we have to get used to stares and interviews.

Let’s face it ladies–you may have been told to act like you’ve been there before, but you haven’t. Even if you wore 7 piece pads for Halloween one year, nothing prepares you for that first helmet headache (hey, that’s how you know it fits). Being a rookie is hard to swallow, but it’s a horse pill for female players–cast headfirst into a world of complicated terms, lofty physical requirements, and a history and lore thousands of pages long.

I had a slightly more difficult rookie season than most–in fact, at the end of the season I wasn’t sure if I wanted to give women’s football another chance. I could have used a piece of advice from veteran players. They weren’t willing to offer it, but I am.

Work harder than you’re supposed to. We’ll respect you on the game field if we respect you on the practice field.

Be early. It’s damn rare–that’s why it impresses us so much.

Learn the importance of getting even.

Understand the consequences of getting even.

Expect to struggle your first year. Most of us do.

Be a student of the game. Watch highlight reels, “NFL Replay”, “The Greatest Games Ever Played”. Play Madden and NCAA Football. Do tricks with the football. Be a trivia nerd. Absorb it and you’ll be able to squeeze it out when the clock is ticking.

Wash your practice jersey. Come on, people.

Get your money in early. You’ll be far more capable of learning an offense if you’ve gotten the hardest part out of the way.

Be business savvy. Sweet talk that bar owner into a sponsorship, put gameday shoutouts on your Christmas list. Harass people during fundraising season. And if all else fails, schedule a fundraiser at a local bar in your honor (invite your friends and family). Most bars will donate proceeds, or let you do raffles and auctions in their bar (your posse = more revenue).

Self promote. Brag, tell the world. You’re a professional athlete, wear your colors proudly. Advocate women’s football. If you don’t, who will?

Tweet. Send an @ message to your favorite NFL player. Who knows, he might answer.

Have a little attitude. You’ll need it for those loud-mouthed veterans, and later, the far louder opposing team.

Watch a war movie in HD with surround sound. That’s how it will seem the first time you run into game-speed traffic.

Learn to love the weightroom (and lift REAL weight). You will never succeed at football if you don’t take your body to the next level. 5 pound dumbell curls won’t help you ward off a tackler (and you’ll be missing an arm).

Run like hell. Those people who look like they want to kill you…WANT TO KILL YOU.

Laugh. Your team and coaches will say horrible things (just like family). Flail and it will keep coming (again, just like family).

Never think about getting hurt…or you will.

Don’t compare women’s football to college sports. They’re nothing alike. If you played at a small college, you’ll think the crowd is massive. If you played at a big school, your classes were bigger than the crowd.

Get a credit card. Good equipment is worth paying interest: it will extend your career and keep you out of the doctor’s office.

Have fun. Every down is one you wouldn’t have had if you’d been born in ’66 instead of ’86. We are lucky…remember that.

If you have a choice in teams, use it wisely. A team with a bevy of angry ex-players is never a good sign (unless they have championship rings, also).

Wear your team gear everywhere. But if you get on the news, make sure it’s for the right reason.

Film, Fluff, and Family

There’s so much more than the practices. There’s so much more than the games. There is laughter, teasing, singing, eye-rolling, coach-to-coach arguments, and unforgettable quotes. Here’s a taste of the life of a women’s national football team member.

bleaching my roots became a faux/mohawk contest. And then there's Brittany in the middle...

We’re dragged from our beds around 7:30 every morning. We’re given a flavorful presentation of free breakfast at our hotel. What they lack in room space and bed quality they make up for with  eggs, bread, organic cereal, and exotic spreads and meats (which I don’t dabble in).

The walk to the stadium is about a mile. It’s nice; a stroll through a quiet back street with gardens on one side of the road and parks on the other. Though we grumble about the extra time on our feet, it gives us a chance to get our eyes pried open from our sleep-deprived nights. It also serves as a mini warm-up, and clears out the cobwebs of the hours prior. I much prefer the leisurely stroll over the over-stuffed van rides with death-defying maneuvers from our eldest coach’s driving.

After practice we traipse back and shower, usually visiting each other’s rooms or making lunch plans. These rooms visits can range from very boring to very unusual and even ridiculous, depending on how delirious the people are. Each room is a carbon copy–overfilled laundry bags, helmets, pads, protein drinks, water bottles, the smell of cleats, and socks EVERYWHERE.

This bike ride to the U.S. Embassy was riddled with falls, car-dodging, and near collisions with people. "Fotlag" is Swedish for sorry. We said it A LOT.

Free time is limited, but we use what we get to the fullest. We often find ourselves slightly outside the rules/expectations of our managers and coaches, but we are well aware of what we can and can’t get away with. Sweden is very lovable. Almost everyone speaks English, and things aren’t terribly expensive. The city is complex, but not so big that it can’t be walked or biked with limited map skills and energy. Our trip to the U.S. Embassy was less successful than we’d hoped, since it was closed for Sweden’s “Midsummer” holiday weekend, but we’re still trying to get some ambassador support at our Gold Medal game on Saturday (provided we get past Finland).

Hallway "gauntlet"...this ended with me on the floor.

Our coaching staff is a tremendously amusing entourage. Though our receivers coach, Coach Huston, mostly keeps to herself and laughs at the madness of the other three, they make the noise and comments of five men. Chicago natives Coach Konecki (Head Coach/O Coord) and Stone (D Coord) create humorous banter and arguments while Wisconsin’s Coach McLaughlin (Special Teams – known lovingly as Mac) serves as the older and MUCH wiser third amigo. Mad scientists and brilliant football minds, they are also very goofy and interact in memorable fashion. Here are a few Konecki quotes from yesterday’s film session.

“Offensive line: you can cut at the second level. Make a pile of asses and elbows.”

“Quarterbacks are made of glass and filled with butter.”

“The tacklebox is the land of the giants. Receivers: stay to the outside, where Ewoks and gingerbread men live.”

We scout other games while also amusing ourselves with dances and tomfoolery.

We break down film like we’re voting for Best Picture. Film of our game, film of our practices, film of other games, and film of our coach’s other teams. The more we see, the more we understand. The more we’re pointed out, the more we can improve on (though our egos do tend to bruise). It’s very entertaining to watch the two coaches try and share a room (with two projectors of very DIFFERENT quality) and try to talk over each other. Space in limited here, so I’m convinced that Swedes are not big people (elevator and turnstyle sizes seem to back up this assumption).

We also watch every other game in person. By doing so, we can scout our competition, support the event, and still enjoy some shenanigans with our teammates. Most of our merriment comes from the unusual music the DJ chooses (techno, polka, zydeco, and some 80′s song redub “Touchdown Music” all back to back is normal) but we also get quite a kick from hearing the referees announce fouls in English with very prominent European accents. One interesting note: all the officials in this tournament are women, and they’ve come from all over the world for our event.

Part of our walk from the hotel to the field...complete with shock and awe at the nearly full day of sunlight (taken at 10:30 pm).

Another adjustment is the full day of sunlight, and the full day of human activity. Due to Sweden’s northern position, during the summer, the sun never fully retreats from view. It does get dark for a few hours, but it’s still a smokey twilight, never pitch black like in the US. And since it’s never really dark, people never stop being active. Even as late (or early) as 4 am, people can be heard outside our open windows. And no, they wouldn’t be open if we had A/C in our rooms. Welcome to Sweden!

There are huge demands on our body, and intense amounts of information being flooded into our heads. But we are well-handled: the powers-that-be understand the need for relaxation and laughter. I’m in no hurry for these times to be over, and look forward to what tomorrow brings; both in knowledge, experience, and memories.

Time Well Spent

I can still hear the yammer of my high school football team’s Offensive Coordinator: “It’s all about the weight room”. It was a valuable lesson I started to absorb my sophomore year, just before Homecoming. I was managing the team at that point; preparing to try go from water girl to the first woman to play varsity football in the history of my county. I was prepared to do anything to get on that field.

While most girls were at home curling their hair or painting their nails before the dance, I was in the gym, lifting to the point of exhaustion. I distinctly remember the timorous application of sunless tanner to cover a sports bra tan from hours of field goal practice the day prior. I sometimes wondered why I was chasing an impossible dream–after all, football only lasted until graduation.

How I love being wrong. I love it almost as much as being right, as I was about my new workouts. The results were slow to show, but dramatic. I felt I had reached my lifting apex in 2007 at Presbyterian College, where I played lacrosse. At a muscular 170 pounds, I was able to max 150 on the bench. No matter how I trained, what I ate, or which supplements I dabbled in, I couldn’t seem to surpass it.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am now 150 pounds maxing 170. No, that wasn’t a dyslexic moment. In fact, the craziest part of all of this was that I only started lifting heavy in October. My max then was only 145. The biggest difference is simple: more diverse weight routines and a greater number of workouts per muscle group. Trainers everywhere are rolling their eyes and saying “duh”! But for those of us weaned on the methodical practices of our strength coaches, changing your workout is like cutting all your hair off (which I did): scary, but somewhat liberating. Another change is the right combination of supplements. A nice pre-workout amplifier with creatine/caffeine-boosted proprietary blends, and a stacked amino/protein immediately following. I take a women’s active vitamin most days also. Different cardio also helps me stay shredded when my diet goes awry: biking, swimming, skateboarding, running, and the occasional row machine or elliptical. Another key shift from the life of a college lacrosse player? Less asphault = less injury. I spent so much time running on roads, tracks and in gyms…completely oblivious to their resultant foot, ankle, and calf injuries.

Dragging corners for 20 yards? New development!

My endurance has ameliorated: I was able to turn a modest short post into a 70 yard pay-day last game. It was well-earned; two fast, talented safeties chased me all the way, and just when I felt myself fading with the endzone was in sight, I suddenly felt recharged and kicked it back into gear. I high-stepped the last 5 yards, dodging the sweeping hands of the free safety’s desperate dive. Furthermore, my kicking range is augmented. While I felt my range was shy of 40 at the season’s start, I now make 45 with room to spare. Not to mention the big hits are less taxing than in previous years.

I’m ready for Sweden; ready for the world. Training camp means 2-a-days in the Austin,Texas heat for a week before our flight out. I feel up to the physical challenge that awaits me.

Feeling lean and on fire is way better than shredding and frying my hair…and I still looked damn good at homecoming.

The Second Level

To train or not to train? What the hell kind of a question is that?

It’s the question that’s front and center for me leading up to Sweden. I spent last season shredding through secondaries on a moderate-weight, high-rep, cardio-infused weightroom routine.  As simple as it seemed to stick with what worked, two variables became salient: international competition and kick-return.

Kick return was a big motivator to gain muscle

As innocuous as those factors may sound, they’ve left me with some serious iron-pumping inquiries.

Members of the league rumor-mill have provided me with the certainty of big hits overseas this summer. Many players (who seem to be in the know) feel that the European and Canadian competition will be very big and strong, perhaps more-so than the kind of women I get beaten up by in my little corner of the league. It’s hard to know the extent of their brawn, but if their other national sports teams are indicators, it’s indubitable.

Kick-return, as exciting as I’ve found it to be, is by far the most grueling of all the tasks I endure in a game. Let’s face it…kick-off is where coaches put the crazy people. That rush of bodies is a blast to weave through when you see green, but often one of those aforementioned lunatics will magically appear and have you seeing red. Rookie blockers and full-speed collisions began to take their toll long before the first game of the year, which reinforced my belief that an increase in weight during my lifts (and an increase of protective muscle) might behoove me.

My workout schedule has changed from a five-day gym week (with two chest/triceps/shoulder & back/bicep/forearm days and one leg/core day) to a four-day kill-fest (ch/tri, b/bi, leg/core, sh/for) with high weight on most sets. Cardio has remained a priority, but with the lingering ankle injury I sustained in week two, biking and swimming have replaced running. These are in addition to two Punisher practices and one self-supervised kicking practice.

One of my new favorite products. Let's hope I can get some in Sweden...

Results have conflicted with injury, but I’m noticing success on my cardio days when I include Title to rehydrate. It’s proving very helpful in congruence with Endurox and Beta-Alanine supplementation on practice/game days. Protein (of the stacked amino bomb category) is key for gym days.

Despite my palette for power, you won’t catch me using steroids. Aside from the obvious moral and legal issues, I’m a woman, and I would like to stay that way…and there’s no question about that.