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Apr
Natalie Randolph: Female Varsity Football Coach
by Ashley Sepanski
0 Comments | Posted by thatgirl in Living Life, Making Waves, That Girl
Image courtesy of Washingtonpost.com
Football. It’s the bodybuilding, testosterone-inducing sport that can turn the kindest of people into raging lunatics. This American obsession that leaves people more loyal to a team than to their own families is a pastime most wouldn’t give up for anything. Not to be sexist or make assumptions, but football is a man’s sport. Women associated with it are either groupies, super fans or cheerleaders. Luckily for all us underrepresented, hard-hitting females out there, that image is about to change.
A few short weeks ago, Natalie Randolph from Washington, D.C. was named Coolidge High School’s first female varsity football coach. Randolph, 29, is a Coolidge science teacher and applied for the position thanks to a colleague’s suggestion. The D.C. Divas of the Independent Women’s Professional League veteran and two-season assistant coach for another high school mulled over the possibility and came to a solid conclusion. She told a reporter at The Washington Post, “I can do it. I’m qualified. I played the game. I know the kids. I love the kids.”
Since her appointment, the neighborhood response has been overwhelming. The expected retort of outraged parents and unrelenting mockery hasn’t washed through the Colts’ community. They couldn’t be more excited. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty even declared March 12, 2010, “Natalie Randolph Day.” Talk about a response.
According to The Washington Post, Randolph joins one other woman varsity head coach in the country, Debbie Vance, who currently coaches Lehman High in the Bronx. Vance thinks Randolph’s most important asset will be her support system.
Perhaps what’s most fascinating about Randolph isn’t her knowledge of the game, her physical ability to play or her lack of concern for skeptics and critics, but the fact that being the first female coach doesn’t seem to really faze her.
“People are going to say stuff wherever you go,” Randolph said. “I can’t control what people say. The first thing is, I love football, no matter whose domain it is. I’m going to do it. If I let people dictate what I do, I wouldn’t be where I am. While I’m proud to be a part of what this all means, being female has nothing to do with it.”
The appointment of Randolph as well as the phenomenal amount of support she’s received is an incredible feat. Sports and their gender roles are deteriorating, if only little by little. As we celebrate the awesome achievement of a woman in a man’s world, maybe we can also appreciate the title of head coach. It’s pretty impressive before you throw the words “first” and “female” into the picture, and Randolph would want to keep it that way.
I almost didn’t care about this Super Bowl. All day, I tried to get excited for this game. There were many 
fascinating storylines: James Harrison being the first undrafted player to be named Defensive Player of the Year, the great comeback story of Kurt Warner at the ripe young age of thirty-eight, and Larry Fitzgerald, who emerged this season as one of the top wide receivers in the NFL. Try as I might, I couldn’t care less. There was no Tom Brady in all his handsomeness nor the rest of my beloved Patriots, so I clung to the fact that Bruce Springsteen would be the halftime show and there was no way he could disappoint.
And he didn’t. In fact Bruce and the rest of the E Street Band were amazing. But the game didn’t disappoint either. Much to my surprise it was exciting as hell.
On the first series of the game Pittsburgh charged down the field and after quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was stopped short at the 1-yard line, Pittsburgh was forced to kick a field goal.
The Cardinals first possession was a disaster and they were forced to punt to the Steelers who once again methodically marched down the field and scored another touchdown. This was not the same Big Ben of the Super Bowl XL who had the lowest passer rating of a winning quarterback in Super Bowl history. At this point, I was ready to turn off the game. The Steelers just looked like they were teaching a class in how Super Bowls were won, and the Cardinals were the slow kid in the back looking at butterflies out the window.
But behind the veteran Warner, the Cardinals rallied and moved the ball down the field 89 yards for a touchdown. Then, with just two minutes left in the half, Roethlisberger had his first turnover of the postseason and the Cardinals suddenly had the ball at the Steelers 34-yard line. What happened next will go down as one of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history. With 18 seconds left in the first half Harrison beautifully read a pass from Warner and intercepted it, running 100 yards down the field for another Steelers touchdown and the longest play in Super Bowl history.
Going into the half it looked grim for the Cardinals. For their sake, I hoped Springsteen played “Countin’ on a Miracle” to restore their faith. But apparently they didn’t need the Boss, because Arizona returned in the second half ready to play and after scoring 16 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, looked like they were going to mount the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history with a score of 23-20.
But the Steelers would not go down and Roethlisberger again charged down the field, throwing an amazing touchdown to Santonio Holmes in triple coverage with 35 seconds left. It was immaculate. How he caught it and kept both feet in I still have no idea.
What I thought was going to be a boring game will end up going in the history books as one of the most exciting Super Bowls ever. You had the underdog, the old man, two strong defenses, the longest run ever, and oh, yeah I didn’t even talk about Springsteen. How again did I think this game would be boring?