June 5, 2008

Hut! Hut! Hike!
Meet Lauri Izzi, female quarterback
By Alec O'Meara aomeara@hippopress.com

Lauri Izzi is the starting quarterback (and vice president of marketing) for New Hampshire’s only outdoor semi-pro tackle football team, the Manchester Freedom. The all-female squad is 3-1, including a recent 68-0 blowout over the Holyoke Hurricanes. A repeat visit to the playoffs seems likely. 2008 is Izzi’s second year under center for the Freedom, which plays its games at West Field in Manchester. The team has two home games left, one Saturday, June 7, and one Sunday, June 22. For more information on the Freedom, visit www.manchesterfreedom.com.

Q:How long has the team been around, and how long have you been with the team?
The team has been around since 2001, and I have been on the team for four years. I started off at the position of tackle, and then I moved to tight end, and then I moved to running back in my first year. Unfortunately, I tore my MCL [medial collateral ligament] and was done for the remainder of the year. … I came back to be the backup quarterback in my second year, and I started out as the starting quarterback in my third year, and I am still currently the quarterback. I became the vice president my third year … in my second year, I was kind of doing administrative work with the board of directors, and I kind of moved up from there.

What’s your day job?
I’m the office manager for my father’s company; he does pest control and his business is called Patriot Lawn and Pest Control.

Why tackle football?
Honestly? I was playing soccer in an indoor soccer league, and a couple of the girls, one of them, she still belongs to the team now, she came up to me and said that I should play football. At first, I took it as a slight insult, thinking that I was playing a little too rough as a soccer player … went over and I talked with them, and I said, “You know what? I gotta be a part of this.” I went down to Derry for a practice and just fell in love. I took my first hit within two or three practices and I wanted to get it. I wanted the passion, I wanted the heart that all these women have. I just wanted to be a part of it for as long as I could. It’s not an easy sport to grasp, as women haven’t been playing it all the time, but I stuck with it, learned the playbook, and I just love it.

What do you see for fan turnout at the games?
Attendance has definitely increased over the years. Last year, during our playoff season, we probably had between 600 and 700 fans out there. It was fantastic.

How do the finances work?
All of the women of our team have to raise $1,250 just to play. As with any struggling franchise, our sponsors are kind of what we live by. The sponsors that we have pretty much allow the women to play. We’ve got a lot of great sponsors throughout the city, and we are always looking for people who are willing to invest in the idea of women playing football after not having that opportunity in the past.

Football is such a macho sport. … people said you should play football and you felt a little insulted. Do you feel that people don’t see football as a feminine sport?
Oh definitely. I think that anything that involved contact is frowned upon for women. You look at female boxing. When female boxing first came out, it was very much like [this]. … I think people very much have the feeling like they want to protect women. … I think that’s kind of an old-school way of thinking, because we understand the risks that we are taking … I’ll tell you, it’s not the size that matters in football, it’s the way you play the game, and how smart you are, and how physical you can be.

Do you see a future where women are playing football at the highest levels of the sport?
Absolutely. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind. Being a semi-pro team, we don’t get paid to play, or not in the way we think of it … I think that every day, I think about where this has been and where it’s going. Baby steps, you know? I’d love to make giant leaps, but it doesn’t happen that way, and I think that if people really invest the time and the thought and just give us the respect that we demand, then I really think that this sport will take off in a few years.

Where do you see the Manchester Freedom in five years?
Five years. Bigger than where we are now. When I decided to play, I made a promise to myself that I would make this sport about playing the game of football and not so much the money-raising aspect for the women that wanted to play. What I can see … is a team that is going to take off, and a team that is here to stay, and a team that is going to further empower women and the sport of football.
— Alec O’Meara