Photo By Terrance Bell | Staff Sgt. April Bryant, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 23rd Quartermaster...... read more read more
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FORT LEE, Va. (July 21, 2016) -- If your idea of women’s professional football is players running around in lingerie or skimpy outfits, then know there are teams and players who are just as dedicated, committed and passionate about their athletic endeavors without making fashion statements.
Take, for example, Staff Sgt. April Bryant of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 23rd Quartermaster Brigade. A player with the Richmond Black Widows women’s semi-professional football organization, she has distinguished herself as a key member of a team in its inaugural Women’s Football Alliance season. The club is set to play in the Tier III title game Friday, and Bryant is scheduled to play in the all-star game the next day. The accomplishments were unforeseen, she said.
“Honestly, we didn’t expect to win a game, especially looking at the caliber of women we had,” said Bryant, whose team finished the regular season at 5-3 and who was dominant in her team’s lone playoff win, “but when we pulled our first upset, we felt like it was something to build on, and we just started building on that confidence.”
A player on both sides of the ball, the 5-foot, 8-inch, 160-pound Bryant was responsible for 60 tackles, four interceptions and two touchdowns during the season. The scores came in a June 25 post-season win against the Keystone Assault at Richmond’s Hovey Field.
“I don’t know what happened in that game; I just blacked out,” said Bryant, describing her contributions to the team’s win.
Bryant’s level of play in that contest was downright nasty, she said. She was all over the field on defense, making 13 tackles (nine solo) including two on successive goal-line stands. She also was resilient. Although her frenetic play caused an injury and forced her to sit out, she pleaded with a coach to return. He agreed, placing her in the lineup as a backup wide receiver midway through the second half. In that position, Bryant scored touchdowns of 60 and 40 yards to punctuate the victory.
“I just wanted to win,” she recalled, “especially after being injured. I didn’t want to go home with a loss with them coming down and playing on our home field.”
Bryant’s achievement was significant considering the Mississippi native has zero experience playing tackle football. She’s played intramural flag football and is a fan of the game, but the 27-year-old only began her full-contact exploits in December. What made her think she could leap from the non-contact game to semi-pro tackle football?
“Guts,” said Bryant with a full measure of confidence. “I wanted a challenge, and this is definitely a challenge.”
When she started out, gaining a spot on the roster would not be easy, considering tackle football’s learning curb and the prospect of competing against more experienced players, said Bryant.
“I knew they would be tougher, stronger and faster,” she recalled, “but I did not let that shy me off.”
Bryant said she endured “three or four practices a week” at a location one hour’s drive from the installation beginning in the preseason. They followed her 12-hours-a-day duty as an advanced individual training platoon sergeant. She endured, however, being named a captain and earning starting spots on defense and offense before settling as a starting safety.
“It is a more natural position for me,” she said.
Considering all she has put into it, Bryant is irked at the established link between lingerie and women’s football courtesy of the Lingerie Football League and its current incarnation, the Legends Football League. Established seven years ago, it used scant player uniforms to attract viewers but created a stereotype as well. Bryant said the WFA is far from that.
“It’s not like what a lot of people think it is – ‘Oh, you’re going to be in short shorts,’” she said with a bit of sarcasm. “No, it’s not that. You have to put time and dedication into this.”
The WFA is one of three 11-on-11 women’s semi-pro tackle football leagues and the largest with more than 40 teams. The LFL plays 7-on-7 and is one of the smallest of the major women’s football leagues. Nonetheless, Bryant said women’s football is growing.
“(The WFA) is the turning point when it comes to women’s football,” she said. “Now, all you think about are the males. Here shortly, you will be thinking about males and females.”
Bryant’s commander, Capt. Genarda Bates, is not a fan of football and a little skeptical of the idea in general when Bryant approached her about it. Bates said she was more concerned with her Soldier’s safety.
“Initially, I was a little nervous because it’s not like touch football,” she said. “It’s real, hands-on football so I was concerned with injuries.”
Bates warmed up to the idea as she learned more about the Soldier and her motivations. “I was excited because I felt she was doing something great, something she enjoyed, and I couldn’t wait to go and see her do it.”
Bates’ attendance at one of Bryant’s game was not exactly a buy-in – she feared for Bryant’s well-being more so after seeing a few hits – but was impressed with the level of competitiveness the women displayed.
“It was a very good team environment,” she said. “I brought my dad and my nephew. It mesmerized me to see the drive these women had playing a game historically played by men. There was no fear. It was no sugar-coating, no cookie-cutting – it was ‘We’re football players out here to win.’”
And that’s the lure for Bryant. While she gets set to depart Fort Lee for Fort Dietrick, Md., within the next year, her sights are on the higher-tier teams in the larger metro areas. It will be another opportunity to help build a team, showcase her skills and win a few games while stomping on the notion women’s football is trivial or merely worth paid admission to see players run around in “short shorts.”
| Date Taken: | 07.21.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 07.21.2016 08:46 |
| Story ID: | 204578 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 337 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Grace on the gridiron: Soldier excels at tackle football while tackling stereotypes, by Terrance Bell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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