It hurts so good
The youngest player on the team, 23-year-old Tiffany Kraemer, had played flag football, soccer and volleyball when she joined the Sizzle last year. Then she discovered something guys have known for some time — football can be therapeutic.

“I had lost a good friend, and I was very angry,” she recalls. “After the funeral, I went to a practice, and I started hitting because I was so angry. I had wanted to be a receiver, but I realized I liked hitting, so they put me on the other side of the line.”

After compiling a 2-6 record in 2005, the Sizzle improved to 3-5 last season. Woods is looking for further improvement this year and expects the team to compete for the league championship in the next year or two.

That will be crucial if the team is to build its fan base and improve its ability to attract badly needed sponsors.

Right now, home games typically draw 700 to 1,000 people. The team makes enough only to pay players’ room and board when they travel.

“We don’t get the respect we should, but once we get more people in the seats, we’ll bring in some money to pass on to the girls,” says John Comodeca, the Sizzle’s defensive coach.

The good news is that each year stronger, faster and younger players try out for the team. The bad news is that several veteran players recently moved away for professional reasons -- their real jobs. Now the Sizzle must scramble to get new players up to speed.

Building from Z to A
Another big handicap for women’s football is a shortage of experienced players. Although the sport attracts some impressive athletes, few have ever played full-contact football. That is a far cry from the NFL, which gets to pick from thousands and thousands of college-age athletes who have likely been playing since they were in the pee wee league.

And even girls who do play tackle football growing up often end up seeing it as a dead end for their sports aspirations.

Jackie Uecker, who excelled in half a dozen sports in school, including cross-country, volleyball, softball and swimming, was invited to join the otherwise all-male high school football team at Glen Este, in Cincinnati. She declined, but not because she didn’t think she could handle it.

Orange County Breakers An Orange County Breakers player is carried off the field.

“I had always played football with guys growing up,” says Uecker, now the quarterback for the Sizzle. “I had to decide where I was going to get the most playing time and where I was going to get a scholarship.” She decided to stay with the women’s sports, where she was able to get college scholarships.

Nationwide, 1,173 girls played on high school tackle football teams in 2006. according to a survey by the National Federation of State High School Associations. NFHS spokesman Bruce Howard said he is not aware of any all-girl’s football teams at the high school level.

Pop Warner and other youth leagues also allow girls to play with the boys, but the numbers who do so are still miniscule.

“I’ve built my league Z to A, starting with women, and then back down to girls,” says Catherine Masters, owner of the National Women’s Football Association, one of the three main women’s leagues. “… It’s going to take time … to be accepted as a mainstream sport like women’s basketball.”

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