For those who think football is for boys only, I invite you to check out the Modesto Magic Women’s Football Team in Modesto, California, a group made up entirely of women who love to play football. The team was founded by and still coached by Stormy Stroud who herself has had an impressive career with pigskin in hand. Recently, Stormy contacted me to say how much she enjoyed the Girls Can’t WHAT? site and that her players could identify with the many stories shared on here. A few emails turned into an interview…so here is Stormy, highlighting her pitfalls in the world of football and how she came to start the Modesto Magic women’s team.
GCW: What is your main passion and describe when you first became interested in it.
Stormy: Football. I’m a born and raised Texan. I think being a football nut is a genetic thing.
GCW: Have you ever been injured or encountered any setbacks while pursuing your dream?
Stormy: I played women’s pro football in Arizona. Had someone take out my left knee which resulted in surgery replacing the ACL, LCL, and MCL; effectively ending my career as a player.
GCW: What is your favorite tool, piece of equipment or (whatever) that you use?
Stormy: LOL¦my football pads and helmet
GCW: Do you have a favorite event or memory?
Stormy: The same game that ended my career, I was having the best game OF my career. The next best memory was after the first tryout for the team I own, and seeing the look on the girls faces when they found out they had made the team.
GCW: What are some of the highlights of your career?
Stormy: As a player, to me every game I got to play was a highlight. As a team owner, starting this team in Modesto will always be a huge high point in my life.
GCW: What challenges have you faced as a female football player and how did you handle them?
Stormy: Hearing “girls can’t play football” or ” girls playing football?? Yeah right!” I’ve asked people to come to games and see for themselves that women play just as well as men. Women just play a different way. Reminding people that most women grew up playing football with their brothers, cousins, and friends until a certain age, then were told girls weren’t allowed to play.
GCW: Have you ever been told you “can’t” because you are a girl? What did you do about it?
Stormy: Pretty much the same answer as above. Believe it or not I hear the negative more from women than men. Women have been brainwashed to think they are fragile or inferior to men. There are still a lot of women out there that feel women should not play contact sports, or play sports at all. I’ve changed some minds, and made people think twice when I tell them about some of my players. A lot of people stereotype athletes. They think that because a woman wants to play a sport, especially football, that they are gay. When I tell them about my player that is a “stay-at-home” mom with two young boys, whose husband completely supports her playing, or about the player that is married to our head coach who also has an 11 year old daughter playing Pop Warner ball, or a list of other players that you would never believe play football if you saw them off the field¦it tends to change minds.
GCW: What do you think is your greatest accomplishment?
Stormy: Starting the Modesto Magic Women’s Football Team
GCW: How would you encourage other girls who are interested in football?
Stormy: Come try it, once you start playing you’ll never want to stop! It’s a ton of fun! Don’t give up on your dreams and never let anyone tell you that you can’t do something because of your gender! You have just as much right to play football as anyone else.
GCW: What other interests do you have?
Stormy: I love riding my motorcycle, but these days the football team pretty much takes up most of my time. What time I have left, I try to spend with my partner and our kids. We have 2 kids at home and one in college.
You can learn more about Stormy and the Modesto Magic at:
- ModestoMagic.net
- MySpace.com/ModestoMagic
- They also have a Cafepress store.
10 comments
Roger Johnson
Basically football is an autumn sport as it begins in mid to late august and runs through December and January. Super bowl is often played in first weak of February and professional playoff runs through January. The term football is unambiguous in most of the parts of the world and is referred as association football or soccer in United States.
paige brassington
i play football for freshman and i plan on to be playing all my life. but it’s also going to be really hard and i gotta keep working out.
my bro’s. on the team really support me and they would do anything to help me or get me better and i love them. but to be honest i would not recommend football to jsut anyone,like girls you gotta start from a little age you can’t just come on the team and think “oh i’m a girl football player” HA no! you maybe on the team but playing considers you of being a player.
so just don’t think you can jsut go out there and think you are a girl on the boys football team, it’s more then that. you gotta really want it. like i do. more then any girl that plays football.
i play tightend, saftie, corner!! number 15 look for me one day i’ll be out there!
jennifer
hi i want toome and tryout bad and it seems like i miss it by a couple of days and can we still tryout
Shelbie #72
I played football on my school team, I was the only girl on the team. There was Jamie before me, but she moved to another school and now plays basketball. I played Offesvive lineman and tight end. I have gotten huer before, but that dose not stop me, you get knocked down you get back up. I never ever thought of quiting, to me I looked forward to football pratice after school. My coaches called me somenicknames, such as “bruser” and “Little beast”, they didnt bother me, they made me feel honnored. I felt as if I was one of the boys, they treated me like it too. I recomend that if you want to play football, Go for it. Dont let anything hold you back, it is one of the most encouraging things you could do.:d
Holly Harris
Hi , I m a from Owasso, Oklahoma. Im in 7th grade and i do play football. I’ve been play football for 2 years and people tell me that i should not play but i do . so if you want to play go for it . It is fun , but you will get so you want quit once you get hurt promise me you will not guit . Have fun . Holly
kristyl
i think football is awsome and i play football with 16 and 17 year old boys but there my bro friends he gets mad when i play with them cause he thinks ill get hurt but i dont care he thinks and the boys just want to be the first picker so they can pick me. besides this one boy thinks girls cant play so when he plays with us im never on his team but thats fine with me i still have fun
drpoundsign
we dudes think we’re better b/c we can generally beat the ladies But mostly that’s testosterone. A juicing gal could beat a dude from a hundred years ago.And as for the track and field records that’s not brute strength but aerobic capacity. Lung/heart transplant, anyone? There was a chick pitcher in th ethirties who struck out yankees murderers row and then the comissioner said it’s to dangerous for them to play
Stormy
I am glad to see the comments from the young ones. Emily, you can do whatever you put your mind to! Don’t let anyone tell you any different. People told me I couldn’t play football. Now I’ve not only played women’s football on a pro level, I own a women’s pro team.
Keep your head up and don’t let anyone make you doubt yourself!
Emily
ive been wanting to join soccer for a while but every one has been say “dont join soccer you’ll do terrible” i know im a good player and i know people are wrong about what they say about me and soccer because they havent even seen me play! but the thing is now im too scared to join a soccer team because im afraid. what if i am actually really bad
at soccer.
–Emily
haslett gril
at my school haslett vikings
all the boys dought me of playing football and my best friend that is a boy thinks i am really really really good, and i feel like going to my aso principle and saying that i want to start a putition saying that if you think that girls can play football sign this paper, and boys can sign this to and but cant play and i want my moms best friend to coach us and she has a son that she coaches him in everything like football baskekball and baseball ect… and we got her to coach our basketball team and she taught us ALOT and ya And my ex boy friend jacob thinks i am really really really good not kidding serisle we rare like best friends too but ya
I LOVE THE NUMBER 10# haslett girl real name paige brassington