Competitors show team spirit early

LOLITA HARPER

While I was alternating ice and heat packs to my injured quadriceps

on Sunday I realized just how excited I am to play football.

That’s right, football. Not futbol, as they call soccer in the

rest of the world, but football; hard-hitting,

leave-your-excuses-at-home American football.

I tried out on Saturday for a spot on the Orange County Breakers,

the local team for the National Women’s Football Assn., hoping to

become one in a small percentage of females who can say they’ve

played real football.

It was the second tryout at Ranch Park in Irvine. The first

brought out only seven contenders so I thought I would have an easy

go of it. Wrong. I was contender No. 55, and there were six more

after me.

In total, 61 women gathered on that field, ranging in age from 18

to 40-something. It was awesome to see so many women, many of whom

brought their husbands and boyfriends to watch, who were still

passionate about sports, still in great shape and still ready to kick

some grass.

There were mothers, grandmothers, new college graduates, high

school students, basketball, softball, volleyball, soccer and water

polo players. Some were retired athletes, hoping to make another run

at athletic greatness and others were in their prime.

I thought I was in the latter group until my little conversation

with No. 43. She looked familiar to me and she was wearing a softball

T-shirt. I asked her, “Where did you play in high school? Maybe we

played against each other.”

I can’t even remember what school she named because she prefaced

her answer with, “Well, I’m still playing at...” She will graduate

this summer, class of 2004, she said.

“When did you graduate?” she asked me.

“High school? 1996,” I answered.

I could have sworn she was my age but there I was, at least seven

years her senior. If my youthful attitude and bouncing ponytail were

not an indication of my age, my throbbing leg would be. It was during

our first 40-yard sprint that I was reminded that I am not 18

anymore. Back in my heyday, I was pretty fast. But it’s been a while

since I turned on the juice. (There’s not much sprinting in boxing.)

I stepped up to the line, hunched down -- my hands clenching and

unclenching, waiting for the whistle -- and pushed off of my left

leg, with my right leg taking the first stride. I pumped my arms and

legs the entire way, not realizing that I had just pulled my left

quad. When I finally crossed the finish line, I was hobbling.

“5.44,” the coach yelled out at me.

All that huffing and puffing returned a five-second-plus score.

Wow, I am losing it, I thought to myself. I limped my way back to the

starting line to do it all over again. My second score was 5.63 -- I

was going downhill fast.

My leg plagued me for the rest of the tryout but it was that

innate, competitive spirit that kept me going hard. And it was that

same spirit that had the other women cheering me, and each other, on

-- not allowing one person on that field to give less than 100%.

“Sit down on the ground and tuck your leg behind you,” No. 54 told

me. “Just keep stretching it so it doesn’t tighten up on you.”

She didn’t tell me to sit it out or to take a break. She knew what

it meant to be a contender and she knew that giving up wasn’t an

option.

That attitude was prevalent all afternoon.

During the push-up test, you could hear people offering words of

encouragement. “One more,” “c’mon,” “don’t give up,” “you can do it.”

Same thing in the sit-ups. Sure, we were all aware of who had the

best times or the highest vertical, but it served as a motivational

tool -- a benchmark -- not something divisive.

And I wasn’t the only one who noticed it.

“Chicks are so awesome,” No. 12 said. “If it were guys out here

they’d be like, ‘Whatever,’ but we’re all cheering and supporting

each other.”

That tryout bolstered the argument that competition is vital,

healthy and even necessary to achieve greatness. And trust me, the

Orange County Breakers are going to be a force to be reckoned with

come 2005 when the season starts.

So, I was honored on Sunday when coaches Sean Sunay and Andrea

Taylor knocked on my door (they happen live in my apartment complex)

to “welcome [me] to the team.”

Now, if I can just get this not-so-young body into shape, I’ll be

ready to rumble with the best of them. And I look forward to a highly

competitive, grueling and victorious football season.

* LOLITA HARPER is the Forum editor. She also writes columns

Wednesdays and Fridays. She may be reached at (949) 574-4275 or by

e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.