Player Perspective Question
Fall 2003

What separates women's football from men's football?

Beth Nugent
New York Sharks

What separates Women's Football from Men's Football is the mental aspect of the game. Men tend to rely on their strength and size to execute plays and gain yardage. Women, being more cerebral and better able to multi-task, use more finesse and reasoning to accomplish these same goals. The result for the women's game is a fluid aspect that translates into a great game of Football to watch.

Ellen Lewis #76
San Francisco StingRayz

A friend of a friend told me she was playing football. I thought to myself if she can do it so can I. I went to the first day of tryouts and I found that the sizes of these women are very close to some of the men I know who play football themselves. I thought I am going to get hurt out here. When I told some male friends, they said the same thing. Is it the dominating men’s football that makes women football seem so unbelievable? No, it is the men and women who believe a woman’s place is not in the sports arena.

Since the start of the WNBA, women in sports are becoming more believable. Yet women’s sports are still struggling for the exposure the men have. The level of intensity is strong when you watch women in sports. There is a drive in women to succeed in all that we do. We go out every game and give 250 % compared to the men giving 110 %. We have all heard coaches yelling, “I don’t want anything less than 110%.” And women always give more than expected. Women have to give more to gain respect from men, especially in football.

I never thought I would say I play professional football. But my coaches are strong in their belief that we have what it takes to play football on a professional level. We hear the horror stories from the coaches, "If you don’t run this play right, and you miss that block, you're going to lose your quarterback". The coaches give us the inner strength to know we can knock that other woman down and get the play completed. At first you think the impossible, you practice three to four times a week just to get one play down, then the time comes and game time has arrived. Coach is yelling to get it right. The second I walk into the locker room, I am no longer a woman. I am a professional football player. There are no tears or crying. No children to care for. No food to be cooked. There are no excuses. You are here to play. Our game faces are on and we are ready.

When we run out on the field our fans are yelling with support. We are no longer looked at as women; we are a football team - the San Francisco Stingrayz. This is the same thing men's teams go through. The difference is they are getting paid to play the game. We play because we love the game. The sport is about teamwork. Getting the offensive line to protect the running backs and quarterbacks. The defense is protecting our end zone. No difference at all in the "Game". Okay, so they are bigger, the have more players, they have a much larger fan base. That is because the sport started with men. We (The IWFL) are going to continue the saga with women.

We are underestimated and we struggle for the same existence as men do in every aspect. We are held back because of the mentality that women belong raising children and caring for the family while the Husband brings home the bacon. I am a single mother. I go to work every day. At the end of my day, I pick up my son and we go to Mommy’s football practice. My son is my biggest fan. He cheers me on at every game. And because I am a single mom, I am teaching him how to play football. The truth is there is no difference between men and women in the game of football. The difference is in the money market. We run the same plays. We practice just as hard and sometimes harder because we still have to work to earn a living. But when it comes to game time, WE ARE ALL FOOTBALL PLAYERS men and women alike.