Washington enjoys rookie season

Ted Black, The Bowie Blade-News

When the DC Divas prevailed over the visiting Columbus Comets, 42-20, Saturday evening at the Prince George’s Sports & Learning Complex in Landover, the victory had dual importance for Divas’ rookie and Bowie native, Melissa Washington.

Saturday the Divas (5-3) clinched their 10th division title in franchise history and will head into the Women’s Football Alliance playoffs June 22 seeking their first championship since 2006. Washington, a 2003 Largo High and 2007 Wake Forest graduate who played basketball professionally in Europe for five seasons, donned pink shoes in honor of her mother, Nicole, a two-time breast cancer survivor.

“I am so proud of my mother for how strong she has been through all of the ups and downs,” said Washington, who had 5.5 tackles in the Divas’ victory. “By looking at her and talking to her, you would never know how much she’s been through. She lives without complaining even when she has the right to do so. She is a warrior, an adapter and the most giving and genuine person I know.”

Washington is one of 35 rookies on the Divas, a squad that historically has been among the perennial powers in the WFA. After playing basketball for over a decade, Washington had to shift her focus to football when she tried out for the Divas in January.

“When I retired from basketball, I didn’t want to stop playing sports altogether,” Washington said. “I wanted to stay active. I had heard about the Divas and decided to go to the tryouts. It was different, but I felt like I could fit in. The veteran players have really made me feel welcome. (Linebacker) Trigger (McMair) has been a tremendous leader and she’s made all the rookies on defense feel like part of the team.”

Despite the squad’s youth movement, Washington has plenty of veterans to look up to on the Divas. Quarterback Allyson Hamlin, an Eleanor Roosevelt High School and University of Maryland graduate who has been the Divas’ starting quarterback since 2004, and 13-year veteran Donna Wilkinson has played running back, linebacker and tight end for the squad since her rookie season with the squad that was born of expansion in 2000.

“We have a lot of new faces on the team this year,” Hamlin said. “It’s a good thing, because it shows you that a lot of women want to come out and play for us. It’s just going to take them time to learn all of the plays. But someone like Melissa, you have to love her athleticism and enthusiasm. She’s a tremendous athlete and she’s had an excellent rookie season for us. I’m glad she’s here and I hope she stays around.”

“Seeing these younger women just inspires me to work harder,” said Wilkinson, who turned 39 before the season began and has overcome numerous serious injuries to her knees and back. “I can’t move as well or as quickly as I once could, but I’ve learned how to adjust and not only get stronger but get more nimble. I’ve been able to do that through yoga and through Asea, a natural drink that really helps the body heal itself.”

Washington and her fellow Divas’ defensive players looked too generous on the Comets’ opening possession Saturday when Columbus went right down the field on only four plays, all of them runs up the middle. But after spotting the visitors an 8-0 lead, the Divas clamped down and Hamlin led the team to three first-half scores and a 21-8 lead at the intermission.

The Divas added to their lead in the third quarter and owned a commanding 42-14 advantage when the Comets scored a meaningless touchdown with 29 seconds remaining.

Saturday the DC Divas will face the Comets again in a WFA quarterfinal game at the Sports & Learning Complex. The Comets edged the New York Sharks, 22-20, last Saturday evening in an opening round game of the WFA playoffs. DC already owns two victories over the Comets this season, taking the first one 53-20 and the most recent, 42-20.

New York Sharks, Women's Football Team, Highlights Acceptance, Camaraderie And Love In Sports

Glennisha Morgan, Huffington Post (Click to see more photos)

Sharing a field with youth soccer players at the Bushwick Inlet Park in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood, the New York Sharks, women's professional football team are preparing for their June 15 playoff game against the Columbus Comets.

Chatter about a rookie talent show that recently took place at a Mexican restaurant in Manhattan is rampant among the diverse group of football players, as they stretch and dress for practice. Dark clouds hover over them and the near East River, while light rain taps their helmets.

Lauren Pringle, a 30-year-old, recently married wide receiver stops to chat with HuffPost Gay Voices, in between being asked about her wedding and football plays.

A few weeks ago she married her girlfriend of five years, who is a performer on Broadway. To show support, her teammates threw her a bachelorette party during the bus ride home from an away game in Maryland.

"We definitely had a good time," she said of the party. "It was a lot of fun."

In addition to planning her own wedding, Pringle and her wife assisted another teammate with her recent engagement. Katie Rose, a defensive end linebacker from Virginia, who loves the contact in the sport, recently got engaged to her girlfriend Melissa Pickett, a teammate who is also the current general manager.

Rose secretly planned a faux scavenger hunt leading up to the popular ruby-red stepsin Times Square, where she got on one knee and proposed to Pickett, in front of Pickett's family and friends.

"Pringle was involved in the planning of it. We talked a lot beforehand. I remember her saying something like once you're engaged it's better and things are different," gushed Rose. "Once that happened, it was totally true."

Pickett, who's been a New York Shark for five years and is currently taking a break due to injuries, is happy that lesbian athletes are accepted on the football team.

"What's really nice is that we've always had a good mix of straight, young, older, homemakers and married girls, etc.," Pickett said. "Even despite all of those differences, when it comes to game time, we still have a common goal."

Although lesbian players are highly accepted on the New York Sharks, unfortunately some of the women can't fully be out at work and off of the field.

One 32-year-old linebacker, who asked to be identified only as Rebecca, said she had to be cautious about being out because she teaches young children, even though she's married to a quarterback on the team.

"Unfortunately, it comes down to what your age group is, what you're teaching, along with the culture surrounding it. Sometimes it's still a big stigma," she explained. "It's kind of like a 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.'"

Rebecca and her wife were in a long distance relationship between Los Angeles and New York for a year prior to tying the knot. Being on the same team, the couple is now able to spend a lot of time together, which they appreciate even more given the prior distance between them.

Outside of some of the romantic love that has developed on the football team, the players genuinely care about each other and most importantly, they passionately care about the sport.

Unfortunately, on June 15 the Sharks lost the game to the Comets, 20-22. It was a close game that intensified in the second half.

Sharks' head coach Richard Harrigan, a Brooklyn native who has been coaching football for over 30 years, feels that the team had a lot of opportunities to win.

After the game, the Sharks huddled to discuss their feelings about the night's loss. Still in their navy and sky blue uniforms, some players admitted faults during the playoff game and others offered tear filled speeches about how the team has become their "family."

The team that is affiliated with the Women's Football Alliance (WFA), may have endured a loss during the playoffs, but they're winning when it comes to acceptance and support.

Harrigan, who thinks that the same-sex relationships and comfortability to be out on the team is "positive", wants to be around to see the Sharks go to the next level, hopefully becoming paid athletes affiliated with the NFL.

"If the mainstream gets on fire with the total acceptance of it, just like the military, that will help women's football a lot actually into being a viable entity in the mainstream," he said. "The WNBA has the same issues because they have a lot of relationships and people who are lesbians playing."

Although not all of the players are in same-sex relationships, there's value in being able to just be and not feel like an other.

"What's great about this team and being around so many people that are like you, it just feels normal. You don't seem like an other. You just are living your life," Pringle said. "I'm married and I play a sport. That's how I see myself. It's really a great experience to not feel different.You can just be and that's the most amazing thing."