OMAHA (KMTV) — The Nebraska Pride women's tackle football team is getting ready for its second season in Omaha.
- The team plays in the Women's Football Alliance, which has 65 teams across three divisions. The Pride are in Division II.
- Women and girls' football is a growing sport nationwide.
- The Pride's first game is on April 27.
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“We’ve got powerful women. We’ve got strong women. We’ve got moms on the team, we’ve got people working full time jobs, people that are going to school full time, people that are doing all three,” Nebraska Pride coach Nancy Javaux-Major said. “It’s inspiring watching them do all of that and still make time to be a part of this.”
Whether they’re physical therapy assistants…
“Ever since I was a little kid running around with the neighborhood kids, neighborhood boys, I’ve wanted to play tackle football, which is real football in my mind,” Nicole Skolnick, a wide receiver on the Pride, said.
Or food scientists…
“I didn’t really watch football as a kid, but I went to college, I went to UGA in Georgia. I fell in love with football,” Nakia Lee, a linebacker, said.
The Nebraska Pride share one common love: football.
“It’s something a lot of us were never able to do,” Javaux-Major said, “and being able to do that and being a part of something that’s more than ourselves.”
Football itself is a growing sport for girls.
The National Federation of State High School Associations says half a million school-aged girls played flag football in 2023, more than double the number four years before.
“All our players pay to be here,” Javaux-Major said. “We’re not at a place where there’s money in women’s football. It’s exciting to really watch it develop into stuff.”
While there have been women’s football teams in Omaha before, head coach Nancy Javaux-Major says higher standards will give this team longevity.
“ We really want to stick to those standards and make it so that they can play the sport and create really good opportunities and build in the community,” she said. “We don’t just want to be a women’s football team. We want to give back to the community.”
Whatever they do, they’ll do with pride.
“Pride means just believing in yourself,” Lee said. “Having faith in yourself and just being strong.”
“Personally for me it’s the thought of that little ten year old girl that just dreamt of playing football,” Skolnick said. “So I always think about her, but then of course my teammates and just getting that ring.”
“As a woman you can do anything you put your mind to, and just go after it,” Lee said.
The Pride’s first game is at Gale Wickersham Stadium in Council Bluffs on Saturday, April 27 at 6 p.m.
