by “Anonymous”, with limited edits by Troy Whigham
“Anonymous” is a promising female athlete who aspires to survive try-outs, mini-camps, and summer conditioning drills to, hopefully, play in the LFL. These are fifty things she’s learned about football, reprinted here with her permission.
(1) Don’t catch with any part of your face! I’ve tried it 5 times; it doesn’t get any better with practice!
(2) Don’t catch with your chest, knee, stomach, arm, or neck.
(3) In summary, always catch with your hands!
(4) Keep your eyes on the ball!
(5) Look the ball into your hands! A split second is the difference between yardage and a do-over.
(6) Focus on what you are doing. Look for what you are catching, look at what you are picking up, and pay attention to how you are throwing. I’ve been calling that lack of focus “clumsiness” for years.
(7) Make sure you catch the ball first.
(8) Always prefer a solid catch with your hands but do whatever it takes to catch the ball!
(9) There’s a ton of strategy to football.
(10) Football takes a lot of focus.
(11) If there is anything other than exactly where I want the ball to go in my mind, a successful throw becomes less likely.
(12) If you’re watching your feet, you won’t catch the ball (learned from experience).
(13) Every player has a job, a significance, and a stake in the outcome of the game. No one is just a body on the field.
(14) Turf burn isn’t fun.
(15) Adrenaline can keep almost anything from hurting or mattering until the game is done.
(16) Game time is the best time all week!!!!
(17) Don’t mix dance training with running style. It results in a face plant!
(18) I am stronger and tougher than I thought.
(19) Train the way you want to play.
(20) Zone coverage has a back to it.
(21) I hate getting left behind when running.
(22) I am competitive. I can’t even run in the gym without matching pace with the person beside me.
(23) In football, sometimes being a speed bump to the opposing player is just enough.
(24) When hitting the ground is gonna happen, tuck and roll if you can.
(25) Get back up; immediately if possible. The play could still be going.
(26) Don’t stop ’til you hear the whistle.
(27) You gotta want it every time.
(28) Bye-weeks are bad!
(29) Getting to play football rocks!
(30) Running with your hands out trying for a catch slows you down and looks dumb.
(31) You want two hands on the ball but sometimes one will do if you tip it right for a two-handed catch.
(32) Throw in front of the intended receiver. It’s harder to catch if you throw behind them.
(33) There is a fine line between a soft-handed catch and a tense-handed fumble.
(34) A receiver’s shoulders and head sell a route.
(35) A quarterback’s eyes give her plans away.
(36) Deception and trickery are part of the game.
(37) If you can’t shake hands at the end of the game, you shouldn’t play!
(38) Kick returns confuse me.
(39) Do what’s best for the team.
(40) Don’t flinch when the ball is coming at your face.
(41) Don’t be scared of the ball.
(42) It truly is a game of inches.
(43) Bring the ball into your body after a catch .
(44) Sport Science is awesome!
(45) Spatial awareness is important.
(46) Don’t drop the ball.
(47) Move the ball from hand to hand to keep it as far from defenders as possible.
(48) A catch is a catch; they can’t all be beautiful.
(49) Sometimes stepping out of bounds is necessary.
(50)….
I am falling in love with football!
I’d like to thank photographer Melissa Willis for providing the three stock photos used at the beginning, middle, and end of this article and photographer Anthony Skorochod of CyclingCaptured.Com for his pictures of the Philadelphia vs Tampa game. Other photos are as marked.
To me sports have always been a constant. Football in particular became my emotional outlet from a very young age. Football gave me structure in the midst of brokenness in my family. My family separated when I was young & my parents had a consistent custody battle going. Football was my way to understand the character god wanted to build in me. Anyone who knows the game of football knows all that comes with it. Try telling a four year old to keep running when they are tired, to keep playing when they are bored, or to listen to and understand the details it takes to learn plays. Football has taught me discipline, focus, drive, and how to love even when I don’t want to.
