Aug. 6, 2006
BELLINGHAM, Wash. -
KIRA MILLAGE, THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
Women of all ages learned everything from how to throw a pass to the best techniques to shed a blocker at the first Western Washington University Women's Football Clinic Friday night.
About 35 women with varying degrees of football knowledge turned out for what Vikings coach Robin Ross hopes will become an annual event.
"It was very interactive, and everyone got a chance to get a feel for the game... a better overall appreciation of the game," he said.
Participants rotated through eight stations, learning what different players do on the field and how each position contributes to the overall game.
Coaches taught how to hold and throw the ball, how to catch, different stances and basic techniques of the game. They also took time to answer questions that they've known the answers to since they played Peewee football.
"There are some things as a coach or a player who plays the game kind of take for granted," Ross said.
Clinic offers opportunity to learn the game
Football has always seemed like a strange and barbaric sport to me. Men put on layers of padding and plastic and run full-force into each other, trying to move an awkward looking ball a few yards.
Like most people in Washington, I watched the last few games of the Seahawks saga last year. And, I, like many other women who only sort of knew what they were watching, was given strict instructions by my football-fanatic male friends to not ask any questions during the game.
Don't get me wrong, I knew what a touchdown is and that there are penalties for breaking the rules, but I had no idea what any position was - other than the quarterback.
Luckily, that has changed - at least a bit - thanks to Western Washington University football coaches.
The WWU Women's Football Clinic they held on Friday night was a great idea.
Not only did we get lessons in almost every position on the field, but we also got to ask questions. And with the coaches being the only people at the clinic with immense football knowledge, there was no reason to be embarrassed to ask what you thought might be a dumb question, like "Why is it called a tight end?" or "What is the back field?"
It didn't hurt that organizers provided beer and wine, allowing some of the ladies to lower their inhibitions a bit.
The women at the clinic varied in ages and athletic abilities, but everyone got involved. At each station, we learned the stance the players start in, ran drills and laughed at ourselves when we awkwardly tried to mimic the coach.
Everything was laid back, letting us make mistakes without feeling like idiots. When I was pretending I was a defensive lineman, I started before the ball was hiked. When we practicing throwing, I threw the ball end over end multiple times. Oh, and I fumbled the ball, many, many times. Some random things I learned:
The football is snapped horizontally, not with the point at the quarterback.
The hash marks and numbers on a field are lined up differently for high school, college and professional football, but they are used to help players position themselves.
When holding or throwing a football, your ring finger goes at the second lace, and is the only finger to touch the laces.
Almost every position has an off-set stance, and where you place your weight on your hands or feet depends on which position you play.
Every coach said their position was the hardest.
My only complaint about the clinic was there wasn't enough time with each position. We only got 10 minutes at each station, which meant we didn't always get to go through all the drills the coaches set up. It also would have been nice to learn what some of the penalties are, at least the ones that we didn't think to ask about.
Regardless, at least now when I watch the Seahawks this season, I won't wonder why the players are running full-force into each other.
