Women’s professional football players on the successes and challenges facing the sport

Geoff Bennett:

Boston is known as a sports-loving city, but there's one team many might not know about.

The Boston Renegades are a pro women's tackle football team that has come to dominate their league. Earlier this summer, they won their fifth straight title.

From the "NewsHour"'s Student Reporting Labs journalism training program, Sarah Yousseff has their story.

Deanna Walsh, Boston Renegades:

So, I'm just like, ready. I'm ready. Let's go, you know?

(Laughter)

Sarah Yousseff:

Fans love watching the Boston Renegades, a women's football team that has won multiple championships.

Whitney Zelee, Boston Renegades:

When you say or meet a woman who plays football, you can't quite picture it .You don't really know what that's going to look like. Are you going to feel the same watching women plays you are when you're watching a man play?

Deanna Walsh:

It's like boiling water. It's just like waiting to be kind of unleashed.

Katie Falkowski, Boston Renegades:

And knowing that every single person team is going all in on their role together excites me. And it's like there's an energy around that that is really beautiful.

Sarah Yousseff:

I know that playing in — or sport in general as a woman comes with some challenges. So can you name some of those challenges that you face day to day?

Deanna Walsh:

The unintentional, like, sexism in a way, right?

So, any time I try to tell anybody about the sport that I play, the team I play for, the league I play in, they always think first, especially the men, is it that lingerie league?

Whitney Zelee:

I think one of the biggest challenges is feeling validated.

Sarah Yousseff:

While NFL salaries range from $700,000 to many millions, the Renegades actually don't get paid a salary.

Katie Falkowski:

Everybody here has another job. And everybody here is really committed to this and make sacrifices and changes in their own life so that they can do this sport.

Sarah Yousseff:

They have to pay over $700 a year. And that doesn't even cover travel expenses and equipment.

Katie Falkowski:

Well, man, I'd like to be getting paid. Where there's not as many resources, even from the time were really little, you know, and so to overcome that and continue to play and to prioritize being an athlete, even when it's maybe not the most — the easiest path.

Whitney Zelee:

Women's sports in general has a lot of great momentum behind it.

Katie Falkowski:

And I think it's going to take people continuing to show up and have fun and love and embrace their love and passion for the game. And so just do that and enjoy it and enjoy the journey.

Deanna Walsh:

Yes, let's go hit some people today, nicely, because they're our teammates. We don't want hurt each other. But let's go hit somebody.

(Laughter)

Sarah Yousseff:

For "PBS NewsHour"'s Student Reporting Labs, I'm Sarah Yousseff in Boston.