Dallas Diamonds football player Jen Welter told a crowd in Gainesville last Saturday that they can do what they set their mind to do.
At 5 foot 2 inches tall with blond hair, a glamorous look and a whole lot of enthusiasm, this tough athlete talked about her life as a female football star and what it takes to meet success.
Welter was the guest speaker at the Family Celebration Block Party hosted by Latinos Con Fuerza (Latinos with Strength) at Edison Park.
“I’m stubborn,” said Welter, “that’s why I’ve gotten where I am.”
Welter said that a lot of people told her that she was too short to play football.
She just kept on playing the game.
Welter plays defense for her team.
“People underestimate me because of my height,” said Welter. “Then I knock them down and they’re looking around like “hey, what happened.”
“I’m like, ‘I’ll be back!’”
“I am good at defense,” Welter added. “Other people on my team are good at other things.”
She said it’s her job to take players down. “I live for that.”
“I’ve made a few interceptions,” said Welter, “but I hit people, I’m defense.”
“Tackling is definitely my most fun part,,” she added, “not interceptions.”
“I have had concussions,” she said, “but no knock-outs,”
I had someone fall on me once during a game and her tush broke my nose. I had a concussion and two black eyes.
“But, I have sent more people out of the game than likewise.”
“Being a woman in football is different,” said Welter, who grew up around football and watched it, but never got to play it.
In college, she started playing rugby and things progressed from there.
Welter said that a lot of people don’t support female football players. There are a lot of people who think women shouldn’t play football.
As for herself she said, “I knew I always belonged and I always knew I was great.”
She sums it all up by saying, “Women’s football exists.”
Welter has won four world-championship rings.
She says that people ask her, “Who’s your boyfriend that lets you wear his ring?”
When she replies that it’s a ring she won they might say, “So, cheerleaders get cheerleader rings?”
She said that another scenario is, “You play football? Girls shouldn’t play football, that’s a man’s game.”
She says she responds by saying, “My life has nothing to do with you.”
Welter told the audience that people say things like that because they couldn’t do something or didn’t do something they wanted to do. “I don’t need that negative energy around.”
“We all run into people like that,” she added, “Those are the people that you shouldn’t keep around in your life. I cut them out of my life.”
She advised to find those people who are excited about what you are doing and stay close to those people.
Welter says that she is one of the pioneer female football stars.
“I started like in the second year of the league,” she sad. “We were collecting money in tin cans at that point.”
“It is the love of the game,” said Welter, “the passion I have for the game, not the money.”
She encouraged others to “find their work.” “It’s about finding that for yourself. Whatever it is that gives you that comfort, that joy.”
Welter describes herself as a big goofball and a big joker.
She said she is blessed to have lot of friends, teammates and family.
Regarding speaking in public she said, “I like coming out and talking to people. It’s a way I can give something back to the community, though it can be scary to open up and talk to people.
Welter said she likes to take the time to speak and encourage others, especially children and youth.
Welter said the Dallas Diamonds are a national team. “We play all over the nation.”
She said she will play again in the coming spring.
After speaking to the crowd Welter signed autographs for a long line of people, especially youth and children.
To see Welter in action on video go to www.DFWreporting.com.
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