New women’s football team sets up reunion between former teammates

By Robyn Murrell
Outlook Writer
Chelsya Leroy and Tori Georg are reviving a sisterhood – oddly in a sport that not too many women play.

 
Leroy, a 36 year-old, mother, plays linebacker. Georg is a 30-year-old student with plenty of experience at playing the defensive line. They hadn’t played a game as teammates since 2013, but before long they’ll be back on the field as members of the Tallahassee Foxes.
The reunion can’t begin fast enough.

 
“Even though we’re going to another team we’re still Jewels for life,” said Leroy
“We’re family that’s what made us better even when we were weak.”

 
Playing in a domain mostly dominated by their male counterparts has helped them forge a strong bond.

 
“When you see someone actually hit your teammates its like you’re trying my family,” said Georg. “When you have that type of motivation it becomes more than just a team; it becomes family.”
Leroy is one of the driving forces in creating the Foxes. She and head coach Andrew Brown are owners. The team is a collection of mothers, students and wives that all share a competitive spirit and love for the game of football.

 
“I missed it when we didn’t play last season, a lot of my teammates felt the same way ,“ said Leroy “That’s what led me to start-up the North Florida Foxes because a lot of women still wanted to play.”
The Foxes will compete in the Women’s Football Alliance (WFA) league, one of the largest full-contact women’s football leagues in the nation. The talent and skillset of the women players is just as good as the men who play at the semi-pro level.

 
“I went to the all-star game and I seen someone throwing the ball and I thought it was a guy when she started to put her (gear) on I said, ‘wow that’s a girl.’ ” Brown said. This is a football player; it has nothing to do with women or men this is a football player and they’re trying to win.”

 
Brown, who also coaches the Tallahassee Wolves men’s team, said there is one big difference between the genders.

 
“Coaching a women’s team, they’re not as hardheaded,” he said. “Even if they have experience their open to what you have to say.”

 
The Foxes will have a 30-player roster and play a 10-game season starting in the spring.

 
“Its not just the 30 women that are on the field its their extended family also,” said Brown. “We all become family you are building a community that all supports the team.”