PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – An Oregon teacher and mother of two is on a mission to inspire her children and the community, through her role as a superstar rookie for the Oregon Ravens women’s professional football team.
Rookie Defensive Back Kelly Schaffer got her start in the game by playing flag football in high school and college before joining the Oregon women’s tackle team.
“I never dreamed this was going to be possible for me, and mainly, because I’m a woman,” Schaffer said. “When I come out on the field, I feel in power, I feel amazing and I feel like I want other young girls, and I want my students, and my sons and I want everyone to have this feeling of importance, of empowerment, of just feeling like you can face challenges. And with a team next to you, you can do anything.”
Oregon Ravens players include women from different professions, from doctors and police officers to Schaffer’s work as an online teacher at Willamette Connections Academy.
Schaffer says she’s grateful to teach online to balance the physical demands of football and motherhood.
“It allows me to work the job that I love, it allows me to play the sports that I love, it allows me to still be mom,” Schaffer said.
While playing the sport she loves, Schaffer hopes to inspire the community.
“I feel like football is a metaphor for life and it’s teaching me life skills fast and right now. And I feel like if I’m able to face these challenges, if I’m out there and able to face a linebacker who wants to hit really hard and is going to, then I can tell my students ‘Yes, you can read this difficult text, you can read Shakespeare, you can express this really complex idea,'” Schaffer said.
“One of our main goals is to create a movement for women in sports, for other women, especially young girls, to see that this is possible, that they can come out here, that this is an opportunity for us and finally win and have the same opportunity to compete at the highest level,” Schaffer said. “I was able to show my sons I’m not just mom that does your lunches, that makes your dinner and cleans the house but, I can rock it out on the field.”
The Oregon Ravens will host their northwest rivals, the Seattle Majestics, at 6 p.m. Saturday at Milwaukie High School. The squad will also be honoring moms for Mother’s Day weekend.