Edinburgh Wolves TE Colleen Reid Talks Playing For Scotland's Only Full Contact Ladies Team

We talk to the tight end about the Wolves' first season in the Sapphire Series and the growth of women's football...

Though American football is traditionally associated with the sight of giant men butting heads, as the sport grows and grows in the UK, the women’s game is growing with it.

Running from February to April each year, the Sapphire Series currently offers 14 women’s teams the chance to take part in 5v5 full contact football in a competitive season. The Edinburgh Wolves took part this year for the first time, finishing 9th.

“Walking out on the field for after little training was really daunting,” recalled tight end Colleen Reid of their first game. “We were the newbies and very much the underdogs but we played hard, learned from each and every game and had a great time throughout the season. Luckily, our first two games were on our home turf, so it was really great to have the support of all Wolves’ coaches and senior men’s team players there.

“Finishing up 9th out of 14 teams across the UK was a real achievement for us. We were thrilled and are working hard to improve on our performance this year.”

As the only women’s kitted team in Scotland, the Wolves have players travelling into Edinburgh from up to an hour and a half away, which becomes even more remarkable when you discover that everyone but the club’s founder Lara Connell, who had played back home in Australia, was totally new to American football when they joined. With the Sapphire Series taking the form of a series of mini-tournaments, away trips to England can also be quite an undertaking.

“We’re quite a mixed bunch in terms of sporting backgrounds,” says Colleen. “The Wolves is made up of women from a number of different sporting backgrounds, including roller derby, hockey, rugby, boxing, Thai boxing, running and of course former non-sporty girls who hated exercise. American football is so appealing to women because it’s a sport for everyone – all shapes, sizes and fitness levels have a place on the team. Many of our players are girlfriends, wives or supporters of the Wolves’ men’s teams and that’s how they got into it. Some are die-hard NFL fans but many of us were just looking for a new challenge and a team sport to get involved in.

"Away games are exciting but can prove tricky. It’s tiring being on a bus for four hours then playing but that’s the nature of the game. We loved visiting the training grounds of each team and felt very welcomed and in the same respect, welcomed the teams who travelled to Edinburgh to play us with some post-game grub and beers. We reckon our Scottish stovies and soup were a highlight of the tournament for many girls!”

Indeed, as the team celebrated their first birthday this week, 26-year-old Colleen says the team are helped hugely by the proximity of experienced coaches and players from the Wolves’ men’s side, who have stormed to consecutive NFC 1 finals in the last two seasons – only edged out both times by the imperious Merseyside Nighthawks.

“The Wolves men’s team are a massive inspiration to us. Their insight, tips and positional training is invaluable to us. As many of our players are girlfriends and wives of the men’s team, we are really supportive of them and go to their games whenever possible and vice versa.

“Our team mates are our football family. We have group chats on Facebook, fantasy football leagues, nights out and weekly countdowns until it’s training time again.”

With the Great Britain full 11v11 international women’s side winning the silver medal at this year’s European Championships, it’s clear that women’s football in the UK is worth paying attention to. But as we aspire to get closer to the NFL in quality and connections, it’s also worth noting how closed America’s favourite sport is to women, with the ‘Legends Football League’ – called the Lingerie Football League until 2013 - feeling the need to dress its players in skimpy uniforms akin to mud wrestling, despite the high-octane, violent football. As a member of one of Britain’s newest women’s teams Colleen is adamant that the UK’s ladies need no such gimmick.

“You’ll always get the odd person to jokingly ask if we’re lingerie league but I think in general, the attitude to women’s American football in the UK is really respectful. The men’s teams are really supportive of their sister teams and as the sport grows, so too will the fanbase.

I’m sure all female players in the UK would join me in inviting anyone who thinks it’s not as tough as the men’s league down to watch a game. They’ll find we hit just as hard as the guys and are just as passionate about the sport. It’s plenty entertaining, even with our kit on!

Movements like ‘This Girl Can’ are always going to help shift attitudes towards women playing sports that are male dominated and that’s a positive thing. It’s nice to see money being invested in the future of the sport to encourage the younger generation to get involved. I think in general the view of the sport is the same across male and female players – it takes a special breed of person to want to get out there and throw themselves into tackles – but we just can’t get enough!”

If you're in Scotland and are interested in trying American football, the Edinburgh Wolves women's team would love to hear from you. Find out more: http://www.edinburghwolves.com/wolves-ladies/