Teresa Schirrippa had quite the "What I did over summer break" story to tell her students at Josephinum Academy, an all-girls Catholic school in Wicker Park.
T, as she is known, went to Canada in mid-August to play in the fifth-annual World Women's Senior Flag Football Championships, played in Ottawa. Participating teams included Sweden, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Israel, Japan, Mexico, the United States and Canada.
The U.S. women came in second, losing to Canada 31-18 in the championship game. Schirrippa was the lone Chicagoan on the team.
"It was such an incredible experience to play against such talented football teams; I'm not used to that much competition," said Schirrippa, a physical education/health teacher at Josephinum who also is the school's athletic director, basketball and softball coach.
"Also, meeting and playing against different countries was so much fun. Luckily, I knew most of the players on my team already, which was great. The only thing I didn't like was the style of play. I am used to 8 [ against ] 8 full contact flag. These rules were 5-5 [ and ] no contact. As the rusher, I had to stand seven yards from the line of scrimmage in order to rush the quarterback. It made it a lot more difficult to get sacks."
Schirrippa played two games this spring for the Chicago Force, a women's tackle football team, including the team's playoff game in Dallas. She previously played five seasons ( 2003-2007 ) for the New York Sharks tackle football team, and she's played on the New York TNT ( contact flag-football ) team for the past eight years.
Traditionally a running back in tackle football, the Force moved her to wide receiver. In flag football, she plays defensive end.
"It's funny. Of all the teams we played [ against in the August tournament ] , I thought it was so much more difficult playing against Japan and Mexico," Schirrippa said. "After seeing them play, I was much more worried about playing them [ than Canada ] . They had trick plays in the backfield and tremendous speed. The team from Japan did so many handoffs in the back field you could never tell who had the ball. Luckily our defense was disciplined enough to just follow and stay tight on the girl we were guarding [ so ] we were able to get the flag before they got too many yards. The girls on the Mexican team were so fast and swivel their hips so quick. Those games were much more difficult. Canada didn't have the speed or trick plays; they just threw long passes on us for touchdowns.
"We'll get the gold next time for sure."
Schirrippa, 25, who lives in Bucktown, had her first interception on defense in the tournament.
"It was exciting," Schirrippa said of her interception. "Also, I don't ever play offense in flag football, but I played receiver in the tournament as well and scored a few touchdowns which, of course, is exciting.
"I played much better offensively than I did defensively, which is surprising for me to say about flag football. [ Since ] I am so used to playing defense, I've become very comfortable in that position. We play a lot of the same teams year round, so I've learned the best way to get to each specific quarterback. In this tournament, I didn't have many sacks because of how far I had to stand back. My coach said I played great because I put so much pressure on the quarterback, but I am not really satisfied unless I get the sack. I was able to make good plays on offense and score a few touchdowns and extra points. As long as I am able to contribute somehow that's all that matters."
Schirrippa said her tournament highlight was defeating Mexico in a close battle that easily could have gone either way.
"They were so good and it came down to the very last play," Schirrippa said. "Anytime you win a game at the last second, it is always more fun that blowing a team out."
Schirrippa knew most of her tournament teammates from her run with the Sharks and TNT.
"I was originally selected [ to Team USA ] for defense, but halfway through the summer, my coach told me I needed to learn the offense because I was going to be playing receiver," she said.
"It's funny … I wasn't really that excited going into [ the tournament ] because it was my last week of summer vacation. But once I got there, it was great and I am really looking forward to playing again in two years."
Schirrippa was going to play for the Force in 2008, but was injured in a flag tournament in Florida. She had her cheek and orbital bones shattered and needed reconstructive surgery.
Force general manager Linda Bache ran into Schirrippa this past May at an NFL-sanctioned flag football clinic. "I had a group of players there to help run the clinic and I talked her into coming to a Force game the next day. She was geared up at practice the following Monday and she played in [ the Force's next two games. ]
"T is a great addition to the team. It's unusual to pick up a player with that kind of experience. She has good hands and is also very quick. We threw her into the deep end last year— [ during ] her first practice, she was taking [ repetitions ] at running back and she played in [ her first Force game ] after having just one week to acclimate to the offense. She'll be used at running back and slot receiver again [ in 2011 ] . She gives us a burst that we've been missing. Coach [ John ] Konecki and I are both very excited about having her on the field this coming season."
Schirrippa graduated from Elon University in 2007, where she played lacrosse as well as several intramural and club sports.
"I am starting a flag football intramural at my school this fall," she said. "The girls are really looking forward to playing and I am also am really excited to teach them how to play."
