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Title details for Hail Mary by Britni De La Cretaz - Available

Hail Mary

The Rise and Fall of the National Women's Football League

by Britni De La Cretaz
Lyndsey D'Arcangelo
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
In 1967, a Cleveland businessman had a brilliant idea: why not start a women's football team? It was conceived as a gimmick and a publicity stunt in the vein of the Harlem Globetrotters. He recruited women to compete as a traveling football troupe; much to his surprise, he learned that women really wanted to play—and play hard. Hail Mary is the story of the unlikely rise of the National Women's Football League and the players who loved a game that society told them they shouldn't be playing. In nineteen cities around the country, against the backdrop of second-wave feminism and the passage of Title IX, these athletes broke new barriers and showed adoring crowds what women were capable of physically. Thousands of people came to watch—perhaps to gawk at first but then, in the end, to cheer. Hail Mary is a rollicking chronicle of fearless women-players on the Detroit Demons, the Toledo Troopers, the LA Dandelions, and more—bringing us into the stadiums where they broke records, the small-town lesbian bars where they were recruited, and the backrooms where the league was conceived, and where it ended. Hail Mary is a celebration of women athletes and their fight on and off the field—and a powerful story of the league that changed their lives and the course of women's sports.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    December 21, 2021

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781666535075
      • File size: 277408 KB
      • Duration: 09:37:55

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Many listeners won't have heard of the Toledo Troopers and the L.A. Dandelions. This audiobook recounts the history of the founding teams of the first women's football league, which began in the early 1970s. Narrator Kimberly Austin delivers the chronicle in a tone of admiration: This was no powder-puff league, but a full-contact women's league, which was controlled and coached by men. Austin reveals the harassment, bigotry from fans and coaches, and lack of family support that these women endured. They received 25 dollars a game, yet they persevered. Austin's authentic and confident narration mirrors the energy and enthusiasm the women brought to football. It's a sports fan's delight. E.E.S. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      Starred review from June 1, 2022

      Sportswriters De la Cretaz and D'Arcangelo present a fascinating, well-researched history of the 1974-88 U.S. National Women's Football League (NWFL), which fielded nearly 20 teams--though never more than 11 at one time. The rules of the game were finalized in the 1880s, and the first recorded women's football scrimmage occurred on November 21, 1896, in Harlem. NWFL athletes faced pushback, even after the 1972 passage of Title IX paved the way for greater participation of women in sports. NWFL players, a group of all marital statuses and sexual orientations, were also college students, mothers, and factory and office workers, who juggled their professions and family to play the game they loved--often for no or very little pay. Narrator Kimberly Austin perfectly varies her tone and energy throughout the shifts between historical background, player interviews, play-by-play game action, and media coverage. Austin's excellent pacing keeps the narrative rolling along through the wealth of details included about the teams, players, and their obstacles. VERDICT This engaging account of an extremely important era in women's sports history should be enjoyed by enthusiasts of social history and sports fans.--Beth Farrell

      Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      October 11, 2021
      Sportswriters De la Cretaz and D’Arcangelo present an entertaining history of the National Women’s Football League, which, from 1974 to 1988, “broke the mold for what a football player was supposed to look like.” Their story begins in 1967, when Cleveland entrepreneur Sid Friedman, inspired by the success of the Harlem Globetrotters, decided to establish a single women’s team to compete against male squads. As De la Cretaz and D’Arcangelo exuberantly recount, that idea—initially created as a “gimmick”—morphed into a league of fierce competitors where all-female teams battled each other with the same intensity of their NFL counterparts. They illustrate how—in the face of rampant sexism (one reporter dismissed the teams as “social clubs with pads and cleats”) and corny team names, such as the “Houston Herricanes”—the players garnered devoted fans. The NWFL never hit it big, in part because of a lack of respect from the media that, the authors argue, continues to this day regarding women’s professional sports leagues. Without overstating the case, de la Cretaz and D’Arcangelo demonstrate how this overlooked chapter in American sports blazed a successful trail for today’s women athletes. This underdog story is a delight. Agent: JL Stermer, New Leaf Literary & Media.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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