Sound the Sirens, these girls can hit
Alexis Vierra grew up in a house full of football fans.
Her grandfather was a huge University of Southern California fan, so the “whole family was into football.”
Vierra is now pushing it one step further by actually taking her place on the gridiron. The 2008 UC Davis graduate tried out on Dec. 3 for the Sacramento Sirens women’s tackle football team and will attend the team’s rookie camp in January.
“My mother thinks I’m insane,” Vierra said with the hint of a laugh. “Actually, my whole family is supportive. They’re just a little worried that I’m going to be hurt. But they’re excited.”
The Sirens are three-time champions of the 51-team Independent Women’s Football League. They finished 5-4 in the West-Pacific Division last season. Additional California teams include the Modesto Maniax and the California Quake out of Long Beach.
Vierra found out about the Sirens this fall while playing intramural flag football at UCD. Second-year Siren Hege Indresand, who earned her Ph.D. in chemistry at UCD, was passing out fliers and recruiting players for the tryout.
“I can look at a person and tell they’re going to be rad at football,” said Indresand, who played tight end last season. “Alexis is the 1 out of 50. She gets it. She wants to play. I see a little of myself in her.”
Both Vierra and Indresand have extensive athletic backgrounds, but neither came with a résumé that included tackling. Vierra played softball and ice hockey, while Indresand was into handball.
“It’s a pretty physical sport,” said the Norwegian native, who also pointed out that Norway just won the World Cup in handball. “There’s a lot more contact than basketball on defense.”
Indresand did her undergraduate work at the University of the Redlands and worked as a physical trainer for the football team so she was able to garner bits and pieces of the sport. But that didn’t prepare her for the first time she took a real hit in a real game.
“The first time I had three people land on top of me, it was after I had landed on the ball so it knocked the wind out of me, ” she said. “I also remember this time when we were on offense and the ball was intercepted, so everything switches. I wasn’t paying attention — my head wasn’t on a swivel — and a girl blocked me. I got up and thought, ‘Oh, that’s what they were talking about.’”
Vierra hasn’t been hit yet. She has started working on passing and catching and running in pads.
“It’s not too bad, but they’re bigger than I thought they’d be,” she said.
The former Aggies have trained together, but the next team workout is Jan. 14 at Natomas High School. This is when rookie camp begins for Vierra. It is also another opportunity for other women who missed the Dec. 3 tryout to attempt to make the squad.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” Vierra said. “On the intramural team they were mostly out to have fun, but these ladies are out to be the best possible, and to be a part of that is really, really exciting.”
Indresand is eager to get back to the game.
“Originally, I thought I’d just do it for a year, but it takes such a long time to learn our offense,” she said. “Now that I’ve learned it, I want to see if I can get better. I also feel hooked on football.”
— Reach Kim Orendor at korendor@davisenterprise.net
Short URL: http://www.davisenterprise.com/?p=119107
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Posted by Kim Orendor
on Dec 21 2011.
Last Login: Tue 22 May 2012 06:35:31 PM PDT
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The Sirens are some hard hitting ladies. The organization is stellar, and thier commitment to winning second to none. I think that it is ashame That Sacramento does little or nothing to embrace the success that the team has proven. Oh ya their cheerleaders are bad ace as well.