2010 Steelers Women's Training Camp

[RuthlessBurgher]

Re: 2010 Steelers Women's Training Camp

[quote=kiwi_sarah]

If there ever was a reason for kiwi_sarah to finally leave New Zealand and visit Pittsburgh (well, Latrobe, in this case), I think the Women's Training Camp is it!

hmmmm. $110. Ok. $1500 flight....maybeeeee. If #7 takes me on a tour of the nearest bathroom stall? Definitely

Now every time a woman has to go to the bathroom, we've gotta ask, #1, #2, or #7?

lmaooooooo.

Um, no self-respecting woman would do #2 in public?[/quote:1g6z1h1c]

I doubt that even Najeh Davenport would do #2 in that Capital City restroom.

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: 2010 Steelers Women's Training Camp

If there ever was a reason for kiwi_sarah to finally leave New Zealand and visit Pittsburgh (well, Latrobe, in this case), I think the Women's Training Camp is it!

hmmmm. $110. Ok. $1500 flight....maybeeeee. If #7 takes me on a tour of the nearest bathroom stall? Definitely

congratulations kiwi_sarah, the New Zealand soccer team got your country's first World Cup point ever today with a dramatic, last-minute 1-1 tie with Slovakia!

[flippy]

Re: 2010 Steelers Women's Training Camp

[quote=kiwi_sarah]

If there ever was a reason for kiwi_sarah to finally leave New Zealand and visit Pittsburgh (well, Latrobe, in this case), I think the Women's Training Camp is it!

hmmmm. $110. Ok. $1500 flight....maybeeeee. If #7 takes me on a tour of the nearest bathroom stall? Definitely

Now every time a woman has to go to the bathroom, we've gotta ask, #1, #2, or #7?

lmaooooooo.

Um, no self-respecting woman would do #2 in public?[/quote:112thhz4]

whatever. after too many beers and a primanti's sammich, our digestive tracks work basically the same. only difference is you have less room in your belly so it's gotta go somewhere and fast.

[kiwi_sarah]

Re: 2010 Steelers Women's Training Camp

If there ever was a reason for kiwi_sarah to finally leave New Zealand and visit Pittsburgh (well, Latrobe, in this case), I think the Women's Training Camp is it!

hmmmm. $110. Ok. $1500 flight....maybeeeee. If #7 takes me on a tour of the nearest bathroom stall? Definitely

congratulations kiwi_sarah, the New Zealand soccer team got your country's first World Cup point ever today with a dramatic, last-minute 1-1 tie with Slovakia!

awwww thanks, all 4 million of us are very happy lol I don't watch soccer at all (I need big hits to stay interested!) but I have to admit to checking to see how we'd done this morning. I think we play Aussie at some point. If we beat them, consider us happy with our WC experience!

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: 2010 Steelers Women's Training Camp

[quote=kiwi_sarah][quote=hawaiiansteel][quote="kiwi_sarah":urs2ge0i][quote=RuthlessBurgher]If there ever was a reason for kiwi_sarah to finally leave New Zealand and visit Pittsburgh (well, Latrobe, in this case), I think the Women's Training Camp is it![/quote]


hmmmm. $110. Ok. $1500 flight....maybeeeee. If #7 takes me on a tour of the nearest bathroom stall? Definitely [/quote]


congratulations kiwi_sarah, the New Zealand soccer team got your country's first World Cup point ever today with a dramatic, last-minute 1-1 tie with Slovakia!

[/quote]

awwww thanks, all 4 million of us are very happy lol I don't watch soccer at all (I need big hits to stay interested!) but I have to admit to checking to see how we'd done this morning. I think we play Aussie at some point. If we beat them, consider us happy with our WC experience![/quote:urs2ge0i]


ya gotta love the World Cup!

[b]Organizers of Dutch minidress model scheme arrested[/b]


The story of ITV pundit Robbie Earle getting fired for passing his tickets for Monday's Netherlands vs. Denmark match to a Dutch beer company Bavaria has gotten even stranger. Two women have been arrested by Johannesburg police for their alleged role in sending a group of more than 30 women in orange minidresses to advertise on behalf of the brewer.





[Photos: More of the controversial women in orange]
From the AP:


The women are being prosecuted under the Contravention of Merchandise Marks Act which covers ambush marketing, when a company benefits from an event without paying for advertising.

South African police arrested the women at their hotel in the Johannesburg district of Roodepoort on Wednesday.

“We view ambush marketing in a very serious light and we urge people not to embark on these ambush campaigns,” police said in a statement.

The women appeared at Johannesburg Magistrates Court and were released on bail of 10,000 rand ($1,300) each, with their next court appearance set for Monday.

FIFA claims it didn't press charges against the two women who are accused of organizing the stunt, but with all that's keeping South African police busy at the moment, it seems odd that it would pursue such an innocuous case without a bit of encouragement. And that kind of encouragement seems well within FIFA's iron-fisted protection of its official sponsors — sponsors such as Budweiser, which paid millions to be the official beer of the World Cup.

And while FIFA denies pressing charges against those Dutch ladies, Robbie Earle — the man who passed on the tickets that started this whole mess — denies profiting from the transaction in any way. Says Earle:

"Call me naive but I didn't think I was doing anything wrong.

"I hope when people hear the full story they will see me in a different light."

Yes, Robbie, people will be very interested to hear that full story when it does come out. Anything involving 30 Dutch women in orange minidresses tends to get attention.

[url="http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/blog/dirty-tackle/post/Two-Dutch-mini-dress-models-arrested-after-defyi?urn=sow,248867"]http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world- ... sow,248867[/url]

[NC Steeler Fan]

Re: 2010 Steelers Women's Training Camp

If there ever was a reason for kiwi_sarah to finally leave New Zealand and visit Pittsburgh (well, Latrobe, in this case), I think the Women's Training Camp is it!

as long as she keeps her head on a swivel when NC is there.

I won't be making the pilgrimage to Latrobe for Women's Camp this year.

It will only be the second one I've missed it since 2003, but I'm heading up to
da burgh in September for a black and gold wedding, so I'll still get in my annual
dose of all things Steelers while I'm up there.

[flippy]

Re: 2010 Steelers Women's Training Camp

If there ever was a reason for kiwi_sarah to finally leave New Zealand and visit Pittsburgh (well, Latrobe, in this case), I think the Women's Training Camp is it!

as long as she keeps her head on a swivel when NC is there.

I won't be making the pilgrimage to Latrobe for Women's Camp this year.

It will only be the second one I've missed it since 2003, but I'm heading up to
da burgh in September for a black and gold wedding, so I'll still get in my annual
dose of all things Steelers while I'm up there.

so kiwi can make the trek without any fear. unless mjg is serious about attending.

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: 2010 Steelers Women's Training Camp

Women are tackling football in increasing numbers

Sunday, June 27, 2010
By Michael Sanserino, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette





Football has been pivotal to Pittsburgh's identity. Now the city has become a key player in the growth of football -- among women.

Two Western Pennsylvanians are playing for the U.S. national women's tackle football team in the inaugural Women's World Championship, which will begin today in Stockholm, Sweden.

And Pittsburgh is one of several cities the National Football League has selected to sponsor teams in its Girls Flag Football Leadership Program, which attempts to build intramural teams at the middle school and high school levels.

It is the most recent validation for a sport that has been building women's participation for the past decade.

Today, there are hundreds of professional women's tackle football leagues throughout the country, and the NFL estimates 19,000 middle school and high school girls play flag football on organized teams. Pittsburgh is home to two women's tackle teams, the Pittsburgh Passion and the Pittsburgh Force.

Before 1999, there were no women's tackle football teams anywhere in the country, and the only girls who played organized football in high school were kickers on the varsity squad.

Given recent gains, those involved hope women's football continues to blossom.

Teresa Conn, owner and coach of the Pittsburgh Passion, said she has watched her professional team grow in popularity since its founding in 2002. Some Passion games are televised on FSN-Pittsburgh, and Ms. Conn receives calls daily for tickets and player appearances.

For years, she has fought the perception that football is "a man's sport" that is too rough for women.

"Those messages are outdated," Ms. Conn said. "It's a sport -- it's a great sport -- but it's been a very stereotyped sport."

People will see more women in football as the International Federation of American Football, the sport's governing body, lobbies the International Olympic Committee for recognition. For that to happen, the sport must have a strong women's component -- at least 20 percent of total athletes and administrators who participate in the sport -- over time, said Scott Hallenback, USA Football executive director.

That means before the sport can grow worldwide, it must grow across gender lines.

USA Football is a nonprofit organization that assembles national teams and helps the sport grow at youth levels. Mr. Hallenback said the organization has a responsibility to sponsor a national women's team just as it has a responsibility to field a men's team. He said it also makes "strategic" sense to encourage women to play.

"People that participate in a sport are more likely to be fans, and certainly more avid fans than casual fans," Mr. Hallenback said.

Football is already the most popular spectator sport among American women, with 35 percent preferring the professional game and 12 percent preferring the college game to any other sport, according to a 2010 Harris Poll of 2,276 adults nationwide. The most recent Super Bowl had more female viewers than the 2010 Academy Awards had total viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Thirty-four percent of Pittsburgh women consider themselves NFL fans, by far the largest percentage in any major U.S. city, according to a 2007 Scarborough Sports Marketing survey of 220,354 residents in 75 U.S. markets.

Pittsburgh women's football involvement is one of the reasons the NFL picked the city for its girls' flag football program, said Samantha Rapoport, a former quarterback on a women's tackle team who now manages the program.

The NFL Girls Flag Football Leadership Program just finished its first year in the Pittsburgh area. The NFL worked with Mount Pleasant High School this past school year and is starting a partnership with Plum High School and Plum's AE O'Block Junior High School next year to promote girls' programs, Ms. Rapoport said.

She said she hopes enough schools launch programs so that they can begin to form leagues.

Ms. Conn and Andra Douglas, owner of the New York Sharks, the winningest women's professional tackle team, hope women's football -- flag or tackle -- can gain varsity status in high school and college.

Without athletic scholarships to college, it will be difficult for the sport to gain a strong following at the youth level.

Mr. Hallenback said USA Football officials have begun discussing the next step in elevating the women's game.

He noted U.S. men's football is built on a pyramid system, with 3 million youth players, 1.1 million high school players, 60,000 college players and 1,500 professional players. That is not the case abroad or in the women's game, where there are few opportunities at any level besides the professional level.

USA Football is looking at ways to increase participation at the youth and high school levels, but that could take time, Ms. Douglas said, considering the "astronomical costs" -- such as equipment and insurance -- associated with tackle football. But she is hopeful, given the growth of women's football at the professional level.

When the Sharks started playing tackle football in 1999, there were two other women's tackle teams in the country. Today, there are hundreds of teams in a number of women's leagues.

"When I was in high school, I was very athletic," Ms. Douglas said. "I was thought to be a little strange because I was athletic. But nowadays, being athletic is part of the norm. Girls work out in gyms. Now it's cool to be on the team.

"The culture's changing."

In the international tournament, the top-seeded U.S. will compete against women's teams from Austria, Canada, Finland, Germany and Sweden. The U.S. will open play today against fourth-seeded Austria. The championship game is July 3.

Two Passion players -- Olivia Griswold of Homestead and Sharon Vasquez of Pittsburgh -- are on the U.S. team. Ms. Griswold is a defensive lineman who recently finished her fifth season playing tackle football. Ms. Vasquez is a defensive back who has not allowed a touchdown scored on her in six seasons.

"I take pride in being a shutdown corner," Ms. Vasquez said.

At the urging of her husband, she submitted an athletic resume and video of her highlights to USA Football for consideration for the national team.

"I've always been kind of a sports chick," she said. "I just never had the opportunity to play football."

Ms. Vasquez said she had to learn the basics of playing the game when she started six years ago.

"I wish I had an opportunity to do it in high school," she said.

Now, she and others are working so that in the future, girls will get that chance.


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