Reflections Magazine Issue #72 - Summer 2010 | Page 22

Feature The Toledo Reign contacted her later that year, and “that was it.” Because of her athleticism, she quickly filled a team need at a vital skill position. “Basically they told me that I needed to play quarterback,” said Clark, who also has played running back and receiver and also handles the Reign’s placekicking and punting duties. “They said, ‘Are you cool with that?’ I said, ‘I’ll do whatever is best for the team.’ ” No Passing Fancy Jacki Clark Balances Her Family and Teaching to Play in a Women’s Football League She has her own surgeon. That’s how much Jacki Clark ’03 enjoys playing the game of football. The 39-year-old single mother and teacher is willing to travel up to four days a week from her home in Camden, Mich., to Toledo, Ohio, to compete for Thee Toledo Reign, a women’s football team. She sacrifices not only her time, but at times her body, to compete in the usually male-dominated sport. In fact, a cortisone shot recently administered to her right shoulder will hopefully allow her to throw a football by the next game. “We’ll see if that helps,” said Clark, who when healthy is the team’s starting quarterback. “The last three weeks I haven’t been able to throw a ball. And I don’t like being one-dimensional.” That term has never described Clark, a former standout multi-sport athlete in high school and in college, including a stint as a runner on the Siena Heights track and field team. Despite her full-time commitment to her family and to her job as a health, business and physical education teacher at the Pansophia Academy in Coldwater, Mich., Clark still had the desire to compete on the playing field. When she learned about the Women’s Football Alliance three years ago, she knew had to play. “Actually, I wanted to play my whole life,” said Clark, who often tossed the football around as a child with her brothers in the back yard. “I had heard about a league eight years ago … but kind of put it on the back burner. I went to a game and I asked, ‘How do you get involved?’ ” 22 Reflections Summer ’10 But playing quarterback is more than just being able to throw a football, Clark said. “It’s very intense . . . Sometimes girls bring that added emotion to the game . . . The other team is out to cream you.” “I still had to learn the game,” Clark said, who was recently named a first team WFA AllAmerican as a punter. “But it’s no different than learning plays in basketball. … You bring in all of your stuff from other sports. We haven’t played football all of our lives so you kind of have to relate it to what you can to understand.” Most of the players have differing athletic backgrounds, and the goal is to try to “translate” those skills to the football field. Clark is in her third season with the Reign, which she said has a very young and inexperienced roster. Jacki Clark ’03 The Toledo entry in the WFA has just one win this season in a league that includes teams from Detroit, Grand Rapids, Dayton and Cleveland. “We have a lot of new players, a lot of rookies who have never played the game before,” Clark said. “It’s hard to compete.” Clark has endured some physical struggles this season, including the right shoulder injury that forced her out of the quarterback spot for a time. She still found a way to contribute – catching the game-winning touchdown pass earlier this season in the team’s overtime win against the Dayton Diamonds. During her playing career she also has undergone knee surgery and endured other bumps and bruises she said are just part of the game. “It’s very intense,” she said of the games, which are played under NFL rules with high school modifications. “I think the girls are a little more scrappy than the guys. Obviously we’re not as strong, but the intensity is the same, if not more. Sometimes girls bring that added emotion to the game the guys just don’t have. The other team is out to cream you. They’re going to do whatever it takes. … The girls tend to tackle a little higher than the guys. Usually after a game my upper body, especially, is bruised and banged up.” The team practices in a middle school gym during the winter months and on a church soccer field when it can go outdoors. During the season, the Reign play their home games at Toledo Central Catholic High School. Under league rules, players are not permitted to be paid. And the players must do their own fundraising to be able to play. “We kind of go with what we have donated to us,” said Clark, who hocks team T-shirts among other items to raise money and also promotes the team through online social media channels like Facebook. Clark’s niece, Kasey Clark, is a teammate, while her oldest son, Matt, 16, is in charge of the team’s game-day operations, which includes running the sideline crew. She said her two younger sons, Brantley and Logan (left), are among her biggest fans. She said they understand when mom isn’t around as much during football season, which runs from April to June.