Openly lesbian Chicago Force player Sami Grisafe will be in Sweden Sunday, June 27, the day of the Chicago Pride Parade. She'll be there shopping for a golden accessory to wear at the Northalsted Market Days in August—well, sort of.
Grisafe was named to the 45-person roster for the 2010 women's national football team that will compete in the sport's first women's world championship this summer in Stockholm.
The 2010 women's national team represents USA Football, the sport's national governing body on youth and amateur levels, and this U.S. team will compete in a six-nation field competing for the inaugural International Federation of American Football ( IFAF ) Women's World Championship, which takes place June 27-July 3.
National teams competing for the historic tournament's gold medal include Austria, Canada, Finland, Germany, Sweden and the United States.
The U.S. team is assembled and managed in partnership with the Independent Women's Football League ( IWFL ) , which kicked off its tenth season this month and consists of more than 1,800 female athletes on 51 teams. Grisafe is the starting quarterback for the Force.
"June 27 definitely will be a day of pride," said Grisafe, 25, who is in her fourth season with the Force. "When I first heard about [ the national team ] , I thought it was a myth, but then read up on it and became excited about the possibility to apply.
"I applied and just found out the good news. I cannot tell you how honored I am to be a part of this history-making team."
And she's not going alone. Her teammates on the national squad include several other Force players such as Angie Bandstra ( linebacker ) , Keesha Brooks ( outside linebacker ) , Patricia Harper ( wide receiver ) , Kim Marks ( linebacker ) , Jamie Menzyk ( guard ) and Dawn Pederson ( tackle ) .
Plus, the head coach for the women's national team is John Konecki, who also is the head coach for the Force. Anthony Stone, a Force assistant, is an assistant for the national team.
And, two Force players have been named alternates for Team USA: linebacker Tricia Charbonneau and defensive lineman Amanda Malsch.
"It feels great to be a part of the first-ever women's national tackle-football team, but there is also a lot of responsibility," Grisafe said. "There is an expectation of us, being given the number-one seed in this international tournament. We have to show everyone—the United States and the rest of the world—that we deserve that honor."
Grisafe graduated from Redlands Senior High School in 2003, and was the first woman in California to play quarterback in a varsity Division I high school game. She was the captain of the 1999 freshman football team at Redlands.
She graduated from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University in 2007.
Grisafe is now a local bartender, musician and actress.
" [ Being named to the national team ] is extremely rewarding for me," Grisafe said. "Thinking back to my first years playing football through my last year in high school, it was sad to think I might not ever have the opportunity to play football again. Thanks to the hard work of Linda Bache and all of the Chicago Force, I was given the opportunity to play competitive football again. Now with the IWFL and USA Football getting together, it is almost unbelievable to me that I will be playing for my country at an international level, in a sport so many people told me when I was young was a waste of my time.
"It's very exciting to have six teammates from the Force with me [ on the national team ] . I think that it is fantastic that so many of us [ from ] the Chicago Force made the modest 45-player team. I think it says a lot about the kind of program that we have here in Chicago. We are fortunate to have the coaching staff and management that we do. It is difficult to find so many people who are willing to put in the amount of time it takes to create a successful team without the NFL-sized paycheck—or even college, for that matter."
Grisafe is a three-time Independent Women's Football League All-Star, and was the 2007 Chicago Force Offensive Player of the Year.
"I feel very fortunate to have John Konecki as our head coach for Team USA and even more fortunate to have been coached by him for the last two years," Grisafe said. "John is a very passionate man and goes above and beyond the call of duty for his players. If I, or anyone, ever have a question he is always available to answer and explain. We are lucky to have him in Chicago and I know that America will have the same sentiment when we come home with the gold."
The United States is in a bracket with Finland and Austria, while Germany, Canada and Sweden make up the other group. "A lot of people think that Germany is going to be the team to beat in the other bracket," Grisafe said. "Honestly, I don't know what to expect. Of course, we are the favorite to win because the sport was created here in the U.S., and is such a staple here—but who knows what the competition will be. All I know is that Team USA is going to bring an intense, intelligent game overseas.
"We want to go to Sweden, go undefeated, win a gold medal for America and make the United States of America proud of their first women's tackle-football team."
