As a new member of the Baton Rouge Wildcats, a professional fulltackle women’s football team, University pre-nursing juniorBrittany Sisson is tackling the sport with gusto.
Sisson always has been involved in sports. In addition to theWildcats, Sisson also is on the power-lifting team at LSU, aUniversity club sport where, in competition, each powerlifter hasthree attempts to lift a weighted bar above his or her head. Thepower-lifting team travels to tournaments, and Sisson will haveanother chance to travel with a team to the Wildcats’ awaygames.
Sisson said her aunt has been on the Baton Rouge Wildcats teamsince May, when recruitment began. Sisson decided to try outbecause she wanted to play “real football,” tacklingand all.
“I never played high school football, and my high schoolnever had a powder puff team for girls,” Sisson said.”But I always have been a spectator and thought it would becool to play, so I jumped at the chance.”
Emma Roccaforte, the team’s owner, said this is the firstyear for the Wildcats as part of the Independent Women’sFootball League, a full tackle women’s football leaguefounded in 2000.
Roccaforte said there are 37 teams in the Wildcats’league, and the team will travel to five away games in Dallas,Texas; Atlanta, Ga.; Florida and Tennessee.
The Wildcat team has 10 coaches who started coaching the team inMay. The team plays at a high-school level and uses the same rulesas the National Football League.
Coach Larry Marquez said the women’s football league isvery popular in the North and on the West Coast of the UnitedStates, and is now migrating down South.
Sisson said it is difficult to become accustomed to atraditionally male sport.
“I had to buy football practice pants and a mouthpiece,and I didn’t even know what the pants looked like,”Sisson said. “I tried them on and I thought they lookedterrible, but then my friend told me they’re just footballpants, and football is not a fashion show.”
Sisson said she was very intimidated the first day of practicebecause she had never played football.
“It is a lot more involved than you would think,”Sisson said. “I had to start from scratch.”
Sisson said the team does drills together and then breaks upinto specialized groups of offense and defense to scrimmage at theend of practice.
Marquez said there is a wide variety of women on the team. Thereis one “veteran,” an experienced player from the NewOrleans Spice, a professional women’s football team in NewOrleans.
Roccaforte said most of the women have athletic experience, butmost are football rookies. There are many newcomers such as Sissonand two hearing-impaired players from the Louisiana School for theDeaf.
Marquez said he enjoys coaching women’s football becausehe has learned different methods of coaching to communicate withthe players, and he also likes the women’s enthusiasm inlearning how to play the sport.
Roccaforte said although this is the first year for theWildcats, they have sponsors and have spread the word aboutwomen’s football through the media.
The team represented the women’s football league at arecent event at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Football fansvisited “A Taste of Tiger Tailgating” on Aug. 27, andthe Wildcats recruited enthusiastic women football fans to try outfor the team.
“This is something women never have been given anopportunity to do,” Roccaforte said.
Roccaforte said women’s football challenges women asathletes, but it is here to stay.
Some people are not thrilled with football’s crossover asa women’s sport.
“I have guy friends who are completely freaked out by theteam,” Sisson said. “They say, ‘That’s aguy sport.’ But, all sports used to be all-male. I think [allwomen’s football] will end up being big. This is the firststep.”
Despite some negativity, Sisson remains optimistic about theleague’s significance to inspire other women to break socialbarriers.
“It’s like a pioneering women’s sport,”Sisson said.