On Saturdays, I play football in a women's flag football league in Vancouver. I grew up playing team sports and still really enjoy playing as part of a team. Part of what makes this football league special is that none of us have played in an organized football league as kids, or in high school or in university. We are all relatively new to playing football, even though lots of the women who play are great athletes and were fairly accomplished in other sports - bringing a competitive nature and love of team sports to the game.
I am very competitive, which drives me to improve on my own fitness, but there is another feeling playing a sport where you compete against another team that I really enjoy. It's the personal challenge to try to do better than your opponent. It's the responsibility that you feel to do your best for your teammates, and the reciprocal support that you get from them during a game. I have known most of my teammates for 8 years, and one for about 20. I think that you know people in a different, closer way when you work together, run together, sweat together.
I also think that it's so great to be part of an all women's league with about 20 teams, about 250 women all playing football. Empowering? Girl power for sure, which is another thing I'm a big fan of. Maybe all the reasons that we should keep girls in sports never goes away, even in adulthood.
