Power Plays Book Club Selection: HAIL MARY

Get to reading about the rise and fall of the National Women's Football League, friends!

Jan 23, 2023

Hi, friends. I hope you all are doing well! I wanted to send you all a reminder about the Power Plays Book Club.

In January and February we’re reading “Hail Mary: The Rise and Fall of the National Women’s Football League” by Frankie de la Cretaz and Lyndsey D'Arcangelo. It’s an incredible read, and you’re all going to love it if you haven’t already read it.

The Book Club is a perk for paid subscribers to Power Plays, so in order to make sure you get all the paywalled newsletters about “Hail Mary” and other Book Club books, treat yourself to a Power Plays subscription.

We recommend that you go to Bookshop.org to find a link to independent bookstores where you can purchase “Hail Mary.” But it’s also available at Amazon, and you can get it in Kindle and Audiobook form, too. And don’t forget to request it at your local library as well!

I’ll be back on Friday with more thoughts from “Hail Mary” for paid subscribers, but until then, I thought I’d tide you over with a few newspaper archival finds about women’s football history!

The Los Angeles Times; October 23, 1939

De Soto Girls' Eleven Wins Chevrolets Bow, 12-6, in First Feminine Football Tussle Here In the first girl's football game ever played in Los Angeles, the light but scrappy De Sotos of Marshall & Clampett yesterday defeated the diet Relph Chevrolets of West Los Angeles, 12 to 6. The game was played before 2500 fans broiling in the sun at Gilmore Stadium. Outweighed 17 pounds to the girl, the De Soto eleven came from behind to score the tying touchdown in the second period and the winning marker on the second play of the fourth quarter. Shirley Payne intercepted a pass and ran 45 yards for the first score and the winning touchdown was set up when Babe Culler blocked a punt which Dotty Docrr recovered on the Relph 27-yard line. THROUGH CENTER Lois (Barefoot) Roberts gained 5 yards in two fries and then Miss Payne raced around end to the 2-yard line as the third pe riod ended. Miss Roberts took it over center in two plays. Jan (Buster) Wood, the out standing star of the game, who played both guard and fullback, scored on a 2-yard smash at cen ter for the Relph club on the second play of the second period. Running like Bronko Na-gurski, Ruster ripped the light De Soto line apart but her team collapsed about her under the re- hot sun as there were only three

News-Journal in Mansfield, Ohio; June 30, 1941

A black-and-white newspaper photo of a woman leaping in the air carrying a football in her left hand and with her right arm outstretched. She is wearing a fitted long-sleeve football uniform with pads and a 1940s helmet sans facemask or strap, and jumping over a pile of similarly-uniformed women who are trying to tackle her or block for her. The title of the photo reads, “Gosh, Gals, Take It Easy, It’s Summer.”

Power Plays

Power Plays Book Club Selection: HAIL MARY

Get to reading about the rise and fall of the National Women's Football League, friends!

#FromtheArchives: Gosh, Gals, Take it Easy!

The Los Angeles Times; October 23, 1939

News-Journal in Mansfield, Ohio; June 30, 1941

The Sandusky Register in Sandusky, Ohio; August 30, 1967