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Cal football players Chase Lyman and Harrison Smith were standing in Memorial Stadium one recent evening, stripped down to their skin-tight uniform pants in front of 300 shrieking female fans. “OK, ladies, how would you like to see what’s under those pants? Let’s hear some noise!” shouted equipment manager Dana Marquez. The crowd--ranging from rowdy teens to even rowdier seniors--erupted with catcalls, whoops, and wild applause. Some waved dollar bills. Lyman and Smith, happy but slightly embarrassed, peeled off their pants, flung them into the crowd, and gamely showed off their thigh pads and Cal underwear. Of course, there was a lot more to the first annual Women’s Football Huddle last August than a strip show. Once Lyman and Smith put their jerseys back on, the women got crash courses in the finer points of football strategy and technique from the Bears’ coaching staff. The ladies kicked field goals into a net, practiced different types of blocking, learned the difference between flankers and split ends, and talked to a Pac-10 official about the subtleties of pass interference. “This is great. They should have started this a long time ago,” said Suzi Peterson of Berkeley, who came with her friend Ann Kirk of San Francisco. The pair have been going to Cal football games since they were kids and, even though they know a fair amount about football, they wanted a chance to talk to the coaches directly and ask questions. The Women’s Football Huddle was head coach Jeff Tedford’s idea, a promotional event he picked up from his stint with Calgary of the Canadian Football League. It’s one in a series of community outreach events (meetings, autograph sessions, etc.) he’s led in an effort to build fan support for the Bears. “We have clinics all the time and only men show up,” he said. “It’s nice to get the ladies here, to give them a chance to ask questions and meet the staff in a setting that is a little more comfortable. And it’s a lot of fun.” Cal certainly has no shortage of female fans. Robert Hartman, in charge of the team’s marketing, said about half the fans at a typical Cal football game are women, a higher percentage than at other schools and much higher than at a typical pro football game. “Cal football games tend to be very family-oriented. The usual ticket holders are mom, dad, and two kids,” he said. The percentage is even higher--close to 60 percent--in the student section, where the demographics generally reflect the overall campus population, which these days tilts toward women. The Women’s Football Huddle attracted not only Cal fans, but women who just wanted a chance to learn more about football. Jacquie Thomas of Alameda, who came to the Huddle with her daughter and a few friends, never misses a football game at Alameda High, but now plans to round out her fall weekends with the Bears, too. “I’d never been to Memorial Stadium before,” she said. “I love it.” The highlight for many women was when, with the recorded roar of the crowd blasting from the PA system, they gathered in the dark of the North Tunnel, huddled with Coach Tedford for a pep talk, then came rushing triumphantly into the light of Memorial Stadium. As they trotted over to the team bench, there were goose bumps all around. “We’ll definitely come to games here this year, and we’re going to have a good time,” said Thomas. Even if the football players are wearing uniforms. --Carolyn Jones ’92 |
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