Looking forward to the Super Bowl? The Valkyries want fans to take part on the pitch
ON Super Bowl weekend, the only women’s American Football team in Wales are calling for more players to join them in their upcoming season.
The Valkyries need 18 players to commit to the season and with only 15 on the books they need more rookies to give it a go.
“I don’t feel that because I’m 42, I can’t have a go. It is just really inclusive,” said rookie Sian McCarthy at the training session.
The team are holding three rookie days in February, where they introduce new players to the game and run them through some of the basic plays.
“It is all about celebrating what your body can do, and your own personal skill set,” said Sara Pratt, the Cardiff Valkyries president.
“We need so many different types of people to fill defence and offence,” said Sophie Nicol, defensive line player for the Valkyries.
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The goal for the team this year is to move from the seven-a-side league to compete in the nine-a-side league.
Four rookies attended the first session, but the Valkyries are looking to expand their numbers further.
The team are all going to watch the upcoming Super Bowl together at the Owain Glyndwr pub. Although there is no women’s Super Bowl, they are just as excited to watch the big game.
Rookie Lianne Vokes is a big National Football League fan and the team came up on her Instagram. She said that she was definitely coming back after her taster sessions to join the team full time.
“I think if you look around, we all turn up in the rain and the cold because we love it. We have injured players and mums who come to socialise and be around the team,” said Ms Pratt.
Many of the veterans joined without any experience playing American Football and Ms Pratt said that she had never watched it either.
Ms Nicol said that she joined the group because she did not enjoy going to the gym, but wanted to stay fit.
To make the sessions more accessible, players can hire the full kit for the entire season. The first three sessions are also free and covered by British American Football insurance.
The Valkyries are currently part of the development league of the National Women’s Football League.
They have to travel up to six hours to compete in Kent, Norwich and Derby for game days. Ms Pratt said that the bus journeys, although long, were full of singing and dancing.
My turn- I tried the sport for the first time
The Cardiff Valkyries meet at 10:30am, in Moorland Park. I turned up with my gumshield and a lot of layers, ready for the session.
As an ex-GB pentathlete I have done a fair number of different sports, but I have never played a contact sport.
After watching the NFL, where players smash into each other at full force, I was quite apprehensive.
I met up with the squad and was immediately greeted with a warm welcome, three very adorable dogs, and some huge pads to try on.
I was joining the girls on a rookie day, which meant there were other slightly lost-looking people to make me feel slightly more at ease.
Sian McCarthy, on her second session said she would like to be a regular at the club.
Kitting up
I tried on the Valkyrie green trousers with pads inside and shimmied them up to cover my knees and thighs. This added weight but I was quite pleased that I had cushioning over my hips and knees.
Then came the shoulder pads and helmet, which added considerable heft and strain on my neck.
All this kit restricted my movement and quite often when I was looking for the ball, I had to turn my head because I had very little peripheral vision.
But I got used to the kit the more that I played and it cushioned my shoulders in tackles.
Once we had all put on our kit, we started warming up and doing some drills to practice crucial elements of the game.
I found out pretty quickly through taking a few hits that I was designed to run away from the tackles and catch the ball, which made me an offensive player.
I tried out as a wide receiver in the plays, which meant either stopping the defence from getting to the quarterback or running to catch the ball.
My favourite part of the kit was the sticky gloves that made it almost impossible to drop the ball.
The vibe of the group was very encouraging, and I really enjoyed learning all the plays, where I tried to get around the defence and go for the ball.
My favourite bit of the session was going into the huddle, where the quarterback tells you all the plays. To be honest, it made no sense to me most of the time but Ruth Lewis, one of the coaches, explained where I should go and how to get around my defender.
The sense of community among the team was apparent and I could understand how empowering it is to go head-to-head with another player and win.
There is so much to learn in this sport and the sense of community helping was what made me enjoy it so much.
- The Valkyries play at 10:30am on Sunday in Moorland Park
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