Ironwomen compete on the football field

Every sports fan's dream: sitting on the sidelines, watching a professional football team run drills, and chatting it up with two of the star players.

Well most fans don't get that chance, but if fans are willing to forego their hopes of meeting a huge NFL star and settle for less well known players the sports fantasy can be achieved.

You begin the fantasy at Baltimore County's Woodlawn High School practice field. You are there to watch the 'Baltimore Burn,' Baltimore's newest professional football team. Upon arrival you are absorbed by the intensity of the practice. One small surprise: the Baltimore Burn are a different gender than their NFL counterparts.

At first glance, behind all the pads and gear, it's not easy to recognize that the members are actually female. Guard Jackie Craig and tackle Tarsha Fain have a combined weight of 490 pounds and look so tough they could probably knock the average guy unconscious just by giving a dirty look.

And that's what it takes to make it in the National Women's Football Association: mental and physical fortitude. If you don't have it, stay on the sideline and grab some pom-poms.

"Most players are only good for about three years. It's really hard on the body, plus the players get older and have kids," said Craig, a 43 year-old who has tackled other women -- and been tackled by other women -- in front of her children and grandchildren. "I haven't seen a five-year player yet."

Just ask recent retiree Janet Shettle, who will act as a coaching aid this season after retiring at the tender age of 41, an age at which she could probably still be signed by the Dallas Cowboys.

Or ask Sabrina "Texx" Thomas, the 30 year-old running back who stars for the Burn when she is not "on the field' with the military. Thomas, who was selected as the 2002 Northern Region MVP, is in the army, and recently served an 11 month stint in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

If, as A League of Their Own says, "there's no no crying in baseball, there's definitely no crying in full-contact professional women's football. The NWFA has been in existence for four years, during which time it has grown from ten to 37 teams in 24 states, with coast-to-coast expansion planned for 2005. The eight game season begins in early April, positioning women's football as a viable alternative for NFL fans experiencing springtime gridiron withdrawal.

"We recognize that they are women, but we treat them as football players," said head coach Adrian Mobley while watching the linemen -- not 'linewomen,' he points out -- practice their hits.

In a time when professional football players seem to care more about their flamboyant touchdown celebrations than their 40-yard dash times, it is difficult to imagine the conditions under which the Burn perform. While the players receive a percentage of ticket sales and occasionally pick up endorsement deals, they have no contracted salary. Hence, all of the players have day jobs--and families--so practices take place in the evenings, with the team only meeting two or three times a week. During the season, there are games every Saturday, which can involve a charter bus ride as far north as Ohio to face the Columbus Comets, or as far south as Virginia to face the Roanoke Revenge.

"That's why it really pays to be the number one seed in the playoffs," said Mobley, "because then they have to come to you."

Mobley kept his ambitious goals in mind last Sunday, when the Burn conducted the third of four tryouts for the 2005 season. Before the tryouts, the team had a 42-woman roster, but Mobley was aiming to expand the team to 53 players -- just like the NFL teams. After losing only three players to retirement this year, Mobley feels certain that the Burn will be able to improve on last year's 4-4 record.

"The athletes are getting better, and the coaches are getting better," Mobley said. "Hopefully, we'll start getting some attention this year so these women can get paid."

Next time you're in the mood for some football in Baltimore, feel the Burn.