Lutheran Grad Tosses TD in Saturday's win
By Greg Neunuebel, St. Charles Journal
Tuesday, June 19, 2007 2:04 PM CDT
Liz Lacy was never the type of basketball player that had to fight to establish
position in order to be successful.
As a natural point guard at Lutheran St. Charles High School and North Park
University, she got used to controlling the tempo of games and staying away from
the high-contact areas of the court.
No such luck nowadays. Laced up in cleats, shoulder pads and a helmet, her
tendency to avoid contact is now contingent on the blocking ability of her
linemen. Linewomen, rather.
As the starting quarterback of the St. Louis Slam, a full-contact women's
professional football team, Lacy has guided her team to a franchise best 7-1
record this season heading into the first round of the National Women's Football
Association (NWFA) playoffs which begins Saturday at CBC High School.
Now a four-year veteran of the Slam, Lacy never saw herself as a football player
following her college days.
"I had some knee injuries in high school and it got worse in college so I took a
break for a little while from sports," she said. "I kind of thought I was done
with sports after college but then I found this and got my knees back together.
"It's been a lot of fun."
It must be, especially if fun equals success.
Behind a second-quarter touchdown pass from Lacy, the Slam defeated the Oklahoma
City Lightning 7-0 on Saturday night at CBC. The Lightning came into the game
with an undefeated record and had never lost to St. Louis in its history. The
Slam had beaten the Cincinnati Sizzle 56-0 on the road the week before and head
into the playoffs with a determined mindset.
"It's nice to be successful but we can't be satisfied yet because we have bigger
goals," Slam coach Rodney Lacy said after the win against Oklahoma City. "Some
of our newer girls may not understand that but our veterans understand that this
isn't what it's all about. There's more to come."
The Slam made it to the second round of the playoffs last year before losing in
Boston. As the team's quarterback, it's going to be on Liz's shoulders to keep
the offense moving through the playoffs again this season.
"She brings a lot of confidence and leadership to the team and it's not a fiery
leadership," Rodney Lacy said. "It's that quiet, calm leadership that's a rare
thing to come by."
Rodney hopes that the public can look past the preconceptions it may hold
regarding women's football. Based on a big turnout in the crowd on Saturday,
several people already have.
"A lot of people might have an image of rough, rugged women doing this and it's
not," he said. "They're very well-educated women doing a bunch of different
things and you need to have those different qualities on the team."
Nonetheless, it still takes physical prowess and a composed mindset to be
successful in the game of football. If everyone contributes, they'll have a shot
to get past the point in which they finished last year at season's end.
"It's a rough contact sport but if you do the things you're supposed to do - go
full speed all the time and keep your head up - it's a not a dangerous sport
that you're going to get hurt in," Rodney said. "(Liz) was a great athlete in
high school and knowing her athletic ability, (injury) doesn't concern me at
all."
Liz Lacy may never have been a body-banging type of basketball player but now in
a new role on a new team in a new sport, staying out of harm's way has been one
of her specialties. So far, she's found her share of success in doing so.