A Plea for Help

My name is Kelsey Goode and football changed my life. Not even two years ago, I cried myself to sleep almost every night. I was morbidly obese and I knew that if I did not change my life, I would die from failing to take care of myself. I cannot even say I liked much of who I was. I was hiding. And then football happened.

It may surprise you to know there are entire leagues of women's full contact football teams and I was lucky enough to make it onto the Arkansas Wildcats Team. It changed my life. It taught me to have confidence in myself and my body. It taught me to get up every time I fell down. It taught me to be vulnerable to people and it taught me to believe that I had it within me to not only be a fantastic football player, but also a fantastic person. Even now I get emotional on the drive home after practice because for the first time in my life, I am proud of who I am becoming on a daily basis.

But this adventure Im on has hit a snag. I did not get to practice today. I did not get to pour blood sweat and tears into who I want to become because I was the only one that showed up to practice. Its discouraging to not only me, but to the coaches and the owners as well.

So to this, I have a request. A plea from the deepest part of who I am. I need at least 11 women. I do not care about your size, shape, ability, age, orientation or skill level. I need at least 11 women to show up to practices, give of their time to create a team worth talking about, worth being proud of and worth the joy we would inevitably share with each other.

This is what you will need if you are willing to join the ranks to help me continue my adventure. You will need to be willing. You will need to be the type of person that asks yourself if you have what it takes and then to prove you do. You will need to be able to let the coaches teach you what you need to know and you will need to believe that you can be a football player. You will need to have heart, courage and commitment.

This plea is completely selfish really. I have never been one to ask for help and yet here I am begging you to consider the possibility that you could be a player in this life changing game I am playing. If you do not have what it takes (or you're a dude), I am begging you to share this blog until every woman in Arkansas has heard my plea. Two years ago, I would have given up when things got hard, but I am a football player now and I refuse to give up.

We practice on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. If you are interested, please send a message to either me or the Arkansas Wildcats for more information. Thank you for your time.