The Seahawks season may be months away but Seattle still has a pro football team to root for. The Seattle Majestics are a professional women’s tackle football team and feeling ambitious about this season, with a new head coach and recruits from around the world.
On a rare warm sunny Saturday afternoon in March, the Majestics are running defensive drills at Kentridge High School.
The team is just two weeks out from the first game of their season. Head coach Rodney McCurry ends practice with a pep talk:
"You guys gotta come out and understand and believe in yourselves and your teammates, that we can put it on the field and we can make some things happen. You guys got it?"
The Majestics play in the Women’s National Football Conference which is only in its fifth season. But it has become the most prestigious league for women’s tackle football with 16 teams across the country and sponsorships from Adidas and Dick’s Sporting Goods.
McCurry joined the coaching staff as the offensive coordinator last season and was promoted this year.
"I just want to see the growth more than anything," McCurry said.
Last year the Majestics won just one game and finished at the bottom of the table. This year McCurry hopes to change that. To help, he’s brought in seven international players, one from Sweden and six from Mexico. One of the Mexican players is linebacker Paulina Lopez, her teammates call her “Pau-Pau.”
"We don't have a lot of teams in Mexico," Lopez said. "The people in Mexico, they don't support woman's teams, because they say it's a man's sport. But well, look at this, we're here in Seattle playing for the biggest league"
Jackie McCall is a safety and has been with the Majestics for 13 seasons. She remembers when there were players on the team who had never played football before. And everyone had to play both offense and defense. She said having international players who want to come all the way to Seattle to play for the team is huge.
"They come out here early, they get warmed up, they have drills, and you know, it's good to see presence, because they're leaders from their team," McCall said.
Alicia Gelles is the team's CEO and also a former player. She said having one or two international players on the roster isn’t new, but having seven is noteworthy. Gelles helps the players figure out the logistics – getting to and from games, plus food and housing for six months.
"It's a major expense," Gelles said. "We're talking probably, I would say $20 to $40,000, just for that, because rent, as you know, in this area is no joke. And that's just the beginning of it, right?"
Five of the Mexican players are living together with a teammate. After practice, they head home together and start laundry. While some go off to shower, others start making lunch. Defensive lineman Mel Garces grabs her laptop to start work. She is a transcriber and also an online law professor.
Garces is fortunate enough to have a job she can do remotely. The international players are all on tourist visas so they can’t get jobs to help with living expenses while they’re here. And they’re not being paid to play football.
But, Ana Barbosa, a wide receiver, said it’s still a good deal. The team she played with in Mexico scrimmaged the Majestics a few years ago and was impressed.
"I like that they look very disciplined. They play super fast and they look like serious athletes. And I was like, 'oh, I want to be like them,'" Barbosa said.
Fast-paced. Professional. Barbosa wanted to be a part of the team.
"That's a big difference between football here and football there. Because here even with teams like Majestic, you have all the support, you have everything," Barbosa said.
During their first home game against Utah earlier this month, the Majestics fell behind early. By the end of the first half, they’d managed to get on the scoreboard. But the team was frustrated. A few calls didn’t go their way.
GG Bernal, an offensive lineman and another Mexican player, rallied her team with a pep talk at halftime:
"This is football. Adrenaline! Aggression! Passion!"
The team rallied to tie the game, which went into double overtime, only to fall to Utah. But after playing her first game in a Majestics uniform, linebacker Paulina Lopez was all smiles.
"It was like a dream," Lopez said. "I was like, I'm here. I was stuck into the couch in December and now I'm here playing football in Seattle. I'm so happy right now. I don't care if we lose or not. We did really really good."
Now in their third week, the Majestics are 1-1 and are well on their way to cementing their place as a destination for fans and players.
The Majestics play their next two games away, starting with San Diego Rebellion on April 20. Their next home game is May 11 against the Los Angeles Legends at French Field in Kent.
