It's a girl!!

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Sherri Savant
  • 917th Wing Public Affairs
Barksdale AFB, La --  The same rules apply: toughness, tackle, touchdowns, but the participants are different…they're girls!

Women throughout the Shreveport-Bossier area have joined forces to become the Shreveport ShockHers, a first-year expansion team for the National Women's Football Association. Two of the Wing's very own, Nordyica Woodfork and Bonnie Reeves, have stepped onto the field to tackle the job.

Bonnie Reeves, A-10 phase dock chief
The 20-year Air Force veteran, wife and mother of two joined the team this year to "have fun and to get in better shape."

"I needed something to do ‘just for me,' since my children have started being their own people with their own lives," Bonnie said.

The experience has been great so far, she said. Most memorable for Bonnie was the first day she wore the full equipment (pads and helmet) and started to learn how to hit and tackle.

"The player that I was against threw me around like a rag doll even though I was bigger than she was," Bonnie said. "I learned quickly not to get upset or frustrated from this, but to learn from it."

Bonnie lifts her head up on this occasion and "defiantly" continues to play the game, despite being "sore in places that I never knew I had muscles."

Her husband, Hollis, a member of the A-10 maintenance squadron, and her children support her 100 percent.

"He (Hollis) did laugh at first until he saw that I was serious about it (football). My kids think it is so cool. My son couldn't wait to tell his friends what his Mama does. My daughter said I was crazy, but she comes to every game and loves to watch me play. I have the best support system around."

The seemingly rough-and-tumble gal has other hobbies, "real feminine" ones—cross stitching, crochet and glass etching. Keeping up with her husband's (and son's) motorcross racing and her daughter's Reserve Office Training Corps schedule doesn't leave much time for anything else, Bonnie said.

"Life is too short not to stay busy. Love life for all it's worth," she said.

Nordyica Woodfork, medical laboratory technician
This 16-year Air Force veteran joined the team due to her love of the game. Her road led her from cheerleader in high school to dance line in college, to being a semi-pro team cheerleader on active duty.

"At some point, you get too old, and you have to hang up your skirt, so I started to officiate (football)," she said. Nordyica has officiated city-level, middle-school and high-school football along with several other sports for about seven years. This includes her first playoff game this season which she describes as "exciting."

When Nordyica became aware of the start of a full-pads, tackle team for women in Shreveport, she was "all on it."

Her experience so far—a "blast." Her position—linebacker on the weak side and strong safety.

Like Bonnie, Nordyica is a busy lady. Her life, she said, is "all about hobbies." Among them: knitting, jewelry making, pottery, rollerblading, bike riding, playing tennis and racquetball, traveling and more.

"I guess you could say living life is my hobby," Nordyica said. "I'm a jack of all trades (hobbies, in this case) but the master of only a few. There are just not enough hours in the day for me to thoroughly enjoy myself. Who invented work anyway?"