The girl they call Bo-Peep. The one who, when I photographed her for my featured player article, couldn't do "serious". If you met Shadana in the mall, you wouldn't guess she's a wonderful running back for a women's professional football team.
If you met a lot of the Outlaws off the field, out of uniform, you wouldn't know.
What kind of woman plays football? A few years ago I started doing a series of featured player articles for the Outlaws website. I interviewed players and published their stories. I kept looking for a common theme, something that would answer the question of what kind of woman. I didn't find one.
This past week I was revisiting a few of my player profiles and thought I maybe had a theme. If you read about Alex Allen, you saw a young woman who encountered some serious adversity in life and just got stronger because of it. I recalled a few other players who had challenges and overcame. Abusive spouses, family issues. But the pattern didn't hold up because many others hadn't been so challenged. I realized (again) that women who play football are hard to stereotype. Check out these photos -
I'm going to do more player profiles. You're smarter than I. Maybe as you read the profiles you'll find the answer.
One thing I did find in common. Football is a tough sport. A lot of work. Women who play football are doing something that is very difficult.
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