Truly, some of you may think I am having a mid-life crisis when you read what I am about to share with you. I assure you that is not the case! I am simply crazy and following a dream I had when I was a child. I just had no idea it would come to pass in my 40's!

 

At the new year, a gal by the name of Jen came into Restyle while I was working. She was very fit...solid....biceps that just popped. I had been training for a figure competition myself, so I asked her if she was a competitor. She said, 'no, actually, I play football for the Dallas Diamonds'. The Diamonds are a Women's Professional Football team with three World Championship rings...'04, '05, '06. Website: www.dallasdiamondsfootball.com Jen is an all pro safety and linebacker for the team. She is shorter than I am...so I started thinking, a dangerous move for me. But, I had to find out more.

 

Thus, I began asking her a bunch of questions about her experience. When I asked what the age range was of the team, she said 18 to 46. And, it is full pads, tackle football following NFL rules.

 

Yep, my next question was when do you tryout for the team. She shared with me that open tryouts for the team were to take place just a week and a half away.

 

Yes, you guessed it.....I tried out! I figured the cure for back to back Buckeye defeats in the National Championship would be to go play football myself. I had a complete blast of a time trying out. We went through a bunch of agility, speed, and strength drills....and then at the end, 12 end-zone to end-zone runs with 30 seconds in between. Awesome! I kept up with the vets surprising myself!

 

Thankfully, a week later, I got the call! I was invited back to mini-camp in February. Coach told me during that phone call the only way I don't make the team is if I quit during this 4-hour mini-camp/'hell day' for rookies! BRING IT ON!!

 

In preparation for that, I attended two Advanced Performance Training sessions for football. So, picture this....me in my 40's lining up doing drills with 16-18 year-old high school football players. Did I hold my own? You bet...Praising God and standing strong!!

 

God is moving. I am following His lead and trying to pay attention to where He is at work around me. God has given me athletic abilities. I had a career in gymnastics during my youth. Naturally, with any competitive athlete comes the dream of playing professionally or going to the Olympics. Well, I had pretty much let go of that dream knowing my prime had past.

 

During the past year, however, I have really focused on transforming my body with the aspiration of possibly doing a figure competition some day. I have been doing a ton of kickboxing, yoga, weight lifting, etc.. in preparation. But...I think playing football is more my style! And, all that work is paying off. I just did not know what I was training for all that time.

 

Now I do....the dream has come true....I am a professional athlete (sounds funny to say!)....playing football for the Dallas Diamonds! I know it sounds crazy but it truly has been a thrill of a lifetime so far! I know it will get hard and I will have those moments of "what the heck am I doing". The women I've met so far are incredible and it is exciting to be a part of a team again with gals who are fun football loving, tough women.

 

Another great kicker to this story is I 'dragged' my best friend Holly with me to tryouts. She made the team too! She is 45 and that girl can catch any ball that is thrown to her!

 

Since there is no feeder system for women to play football, many of these women are athletes from other sports like gymnastics, soccer, or softball like my friend. We learn football. So far so good! I know when I get hit for the first time that will be tough and it will take some getting used too. So, here we goooooooooooooooooo!

 

Next post will be on what happened during 'hell day'!

 

Stay inspired,

Anne 'Kip'