Anyone into American Football?

[missyd]

I played american football till the only 2 swiss woman teams ceased to play tackle football. One team does not exist anymore and the other is playing flag football mixed with men.

I played different positions .... defensive tackle, linebacker, cornerback and in the end (we played mostly flag football against male/mixed teams then) quarterback which was great fun. Specially if a play worked well and we could score a touchdown (which was not very often).

The following picture show me at the very last tackle training .... I was quarterback in the offense team and linbacker in the defense team. We where only 16 girls so we played a 8-8 scrimmage which was great fun.

I miss tackle football a lot .... best sport I ever did besides skiing .... good workout after a day in the office!

 

[altagirl]

I'm impressed! And I think it would be totally fun... but my beat up knees might disagree. I played a lot of flag football in college and in the Army - just for fun, but I liked it a lot. And we played the same way, when we had women-only teams there weren't enough of us, so you had a position on the offense AND on the defense. Talk about a workout!

Sorry to hear your team went away. :( Hopefully that will turn around. But nice work!

 

[missyd]

American football is not the sport if you are afraid of injuries or have already damaged knees etc.
I must say that I had a lot of injuries and went more than once to the emergency room ....
Just some examples .....
Sprained fingers and elbow ....
Stiff shoulder from all the blows ....
Problems with my knees, ankles, hip ....
Hematomas all the time and different parts of my body ....
I remember one time before an important game I had to take painkillers before training. But I do not regret anything I did .... too much fun it was!
Sadly the will not be any other female Amercian Football team again in Switzerland. Todays girls are mostly not interested in getting hurt by such a team sport ....

 

[Swamp Dog]

Love it! A friend of mine played with a local female league in MA. I'm just not big enough to hang with that group, never mind the injury risk factor. I played ice hockey for a few years and was pretty much out sized too.

 

[Delawhere]

I also played a lot of flag football in college and grad school. I loved it. I never got into tackle football and now I don't want to go through the trauma of tackles. Ehhh...just typing that makes me feel old.

I still love to throw a football. I have a good arm. My hubby and kids and I play catch a lot. We also play Monkey in the Middle using a football.

 

[missyd]

Went to watch the EFAF cup final football game a week ago. The swiss Broncos won that game that took place under torrential rain. Saturday I watched the two finals (swissbowl) of the swiss championship games (juniors & seniors) in Berne. Again the Broncos won both games.
I realised that I can't live without playing football. I have to find a another ladies team. The nearest one is in Stuttgart. The Scorpions Ladies Football Team seems to have a good team. The also play the German (Ladies Football) Bundesliga which makes it very interesting
https://www.stuttgart-scorpions.de/teams/ladies
Its only a 250km drive to Stuttgart ... not to far away ... ok I must be crazy ...

 

[missyd]

I exchanged some emails with the headcoach of the Stuttgart Scorpions Sisters. I can come and do the training with them. We'll see if I can play in the German Football league next year. I am very exited about it. Upgraded some of my equipment and had my AF-shop check my helmet fit and had them add an extra pad/plate for protection of my back.
My gosh .... 7-8 years since I played the last time tackle football.
I also find out that Stuttgart is only a 200km drive away ... so its no problem. I hope I can play a full season and then decide if my old body can take the pains or not!!! Playing tackle football with 49yrs is not what others do!!!

I MUST BE CRAZY!!!!

 

[vanhoskier]

Wow, you rock, Missyd! That is one tough sport! Keep us informed of your progress!

 

[missyd]

OK ladies ... I will post here news about my 'career in american football' with the Stuttgart Scorpions Sisters.
https://www.stuttgart-scorpions.de/teams/ladies
I went to my first training with the Stuttgart Scorpions Sisters (SSS) on friday. Its a 125miles drive from my place to Stuttgart in southern germany. I found the Scorpions playground without problems ... just read the map I prepared for the travel (I have no navigation system). If somebody knows Stuttgart .... its near the Fernsehturm (TV-Tower).
As its offseason already the training was not too hard and without tackling. There are quite a lot of players with injuries. We practised the passing the football and the pass tree (pass routes). I gave my best and I think the headcoach was happy with my performance. Great fun it was!!! I catched some nice passes and some at least I tried to catch by jumping in direction of the football .... never mind if I fell afterwards ... you have try to catch the football even if its out of reach. Playing american football is like riding a bycicle ... you never forget how to do it.
To end the training we played a rather wild game of touchfootball.
I wore my knee braces and at the end of the training the knees where perhaps the only part of my body that was not hurting!
I will play with the SSS thats for shure! The girls and the coach are very nice. We talked for some time after the training. I needed some more informations about the training and the gamedays next summer. My helmet and shirt will have to be marked by a letter E. This will marks me as "player from an european country outside germany". I will try to use contact lenses instead of glasses in the near future. I wonder which positions I can play. Coach did not say anything but he said something about QB once as I mentioned that I did play as quarterback in flag football ... no I can't play QB .... to much responsibility .... but if I have to .... Yes!!!!
2.5h ride back to home with no traffic at all on the Autobahn!
I wore my new Heatgear underarmor shirt .... thats a fantastic shirt. As soon as your getting hot its cooling you down and vice versa. I used the shirt and the forearm shivers (sleeves). This stuff from under armor is really great.
https://www.underarmour.com
I will have to buy other stuff from them!!! ;-)
So today is the second day after the training. My body aches like hell. Used a lot of muscles I normally do not use. Hope its ok again for training on tuesday.
I'll write more after the next training.

 

[Jenny]

You must REALLY like this to drive 125 miles each way twice(?) a week!

 

[missyd]

Yes .... I just love american football ... its more than a passion .... its a way of life for me!!!!
Its end of the season ... no more games. So after this week there will be no training for some time. Many girls have to cure their injuries and others are on holiday. I will go twice this week. But in the future I will go only once a week in summer on tuesday. Maybe before gameday I will go too to the training in the evening but will sleep in Stuttgart.
At least the coach can be shure that if you drive 125miles one ways for the training your motivation must be really big!!!!

 

[Jenny]

I like it too - but my way involves a TV, cold drinks, a soft chair, and the perfect sweatshirt-weather autumn day.

 

[missyd]

I also watch many games on ESPN .... I just watch how the QB reacts or other little details of other players.
I have only one problem .... I also play football in my dreams .... always go through plays and trainings .... my brain never stops to work .... its not too funny .... but thats just me ... I am like that!! :D

 

[missyd]

Update 11.August 2010:
Went to the taining. I had still a lot of sore msucles in my legs but I decided to give it a try .... big mistake! I realized during the warmup that I could run at all well. The coach (really nice guy) let me play quarterback! So I trew balls till my arm couldn't do it anymore. My gosh after 8 yrs not playing football it was rather difficult. My timing was not always ok and with the pains in my leg I couldn't do the steps and hip movement as I should.
Anyway I didn't say anything to the coach about the pains. Gave my best as always.
At the end I did some exercise with a receiver alone and CLICK everything came back. The right moves and timing.
No I am glad to tell you that I am the new quarterback of the Stuttgart Scorpions Sisters (together with Jenni the other QB). SO there will be always one QB ready for action if one is injured or absent.
Oh my god ..... I am a very happy girl!!!!!

PS: BTW I am the oldest female football player in germany .... perhaps, maybe in the whole world ....

 

[missyd]

I forgot to write that I am the secondary quarterback ... the 1st one is still Jenni ... but that may change in the future. One of my friends from my favorite sports shop was QB in the past. He offered me to by my personal coach till my technique is top notch!

 

[Jenn]

TOO COOL missyd! Your passion for what you're doing makes me interested in something that has never been on my TV before!

 

[missyd]

TOO COOL missyd! Your passion for what you're doing makes me interested in something that has never been on my TV before!

Give it a try ... read the game rules if you don't know them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_football_rules

I suggest to watch College or High School football games ... they are more interesting. NFL is ok but lacks the genuis of the younger players.

First time in my life I want to do something as professional as possible. To get my old body fit for something I love and to prevent injuries. Never ever again I want to play football if an injury is not healed properly .... had enough of months on painkillers and other drugs ....

 

[dloveski]

I forgot to write that I am the secondary quarterback ... the 1st one is still Jenni ... but that may change in the future. One of my friends from my favorite sports shop was QB in the past. He offered me to by my personal coach till my technique is top notch!

Way cool----passion, sweat, competition, and capacity to endure physical pain....maybe a lot like skiing?

 

[missyd]

Way cool----passion, sweat, competition, and capacity to endure physical pain....maybe a lot like skiing?

Yes you're right with that .... but as I never did ski competitions, skiing will get me fit trough winter and keep may brain from going silly off season. I have to say that maybe I have to reduce the number of ski-days a little bit. Not because I wouldn't have time but maybe (I hope not) I may not have the money for all the fuel I need weekly .... money will always be very tight as long as I play football.

 

[vanhoskier]

I like this thread!

It's making me stop complaining about all my aches and pains!

You go, Missy!