Ashura:
WNFC Tackle
Kansas City Glory
"The Keep Her in the Game Grant will help me by ensuring my longevity and safety on the field.
Playing this sport and also being a travel player means that I incur a great deal more expenses. This grant helps to relieve some of the financial burden that comes with purchasing equipment, which I am very grateful for.
I can focus less on the stresses off the field and more on dominating on the field!"
Keep Ashura in the Game: Their Story, in Their Words
"Even though I had to retire from collegiate track and field in 2019, I knew that I was not ready to retire from sports. Being an athlete is a big part of who I am, and I was not ready to give that part of myself up yet. That same year, I started looking for local women's sports teams that I could join and came across the page for women's tackle football. Luck... and God is how I found football. Like many women, I had never played football before, but I was intrigued by the opportunity to not only challenge myself physically but mentally as well. I began attending practices and really trying to learn the game. Unfortunately, COVID ended my rookie season in 2020 before it even started. But the love that I was already beginning to develop could not be broken, and I was able to finally step on the field for the first time in 2020.
I think my absolute favorite moment of my career so far is when I was with the Los Angeles Legends and we played the Las Vegas Silver Stars in 2021. We had the ball, and there was some confusion about what personnel needed to be in at that specific time. There ended up being two running backs in, myself and one of my teammates, but no slot receiver, and it was a pass play. I decided to step into the slot and ran through the play again in my head and what my route was: a fade. "Just go," I told myself. The ball was snapped, and I did just that. The quarterback dropped a dime into my hands, and I was off. Six points and 30 yards later, I scored. That was the first touchdown of the first game of that season.
Many of the challenges that I have faced playing football have been mental in nature. Having never really been exposed to football prior to 2020, I struggled with self-doubt and a lack of self-confidence and still do to this day. I feel like I have yet to reach my full potential on the football field, and I think this is the biggest reason for that. It is a challenge that I face every time that I step onto the field. In addition to this, learning how to properly fuel and train my body has also been a challenge. Football is so physically demanding, and I need to do a better job at caring for it accordingly.
For the first 3 years of my football career, I was a full-time doctoral graduate student. I relied solely on student loans and babysitting to support myself financially. During the second to last game of the season last year, I was hit hard after catching the ball and ended up in the emergency room. I begged the paramedics not to cut my shoulder pads, but they needed full access to my head/neck/chest. I was more worried about the fact that I knew I couldn't afford another pair than my injuries in that moment. The Keep Her in the Game Grant will help me by ensuring my longevity and safety on the field.
One of the biggest lessons that I have learned as an athlete is that my mind is my most powerful tool. If I allow my mind to fail me, then my physical being is next to go with it. But when I stay mentally strong, I am invincible. Football has helped me grow as a person in that it continues to challenge me mentally. It continues to force me to strengthen my mind and learn how to mentally persevere. Football is how I take care of myself mentally, physically, and emotionally."
