California, U.S.A, is the home of Tatum Etchegoyen-Springer, a third-year criminology and criminal justice student at the University of East London. However, something that makes her uniquely special and stand out from the crowd is the fact that she is the captain and the only female on the UEL American-football team.
Currently listed as the quarterback but usually playing on the defensive line or as a line-backer, Tatum told me her story of how she came to the UK and was able to play the game she’s loved since she was just 5 years-old, overcoming her recent injury issues, what she’s been doing since COVID-19 stopped the UEL American football season and what it’s like to be the only female in a male-dominated sport having to face comments such as; ‘I like hitting her because I like a good cheap shot on a girl, it’s easier.’
So How Did You First Get Into American Football?
“Well, my brother played [American] football all the way through his childhood to college. My dad coached him and I wanted to play every time I went to his practice. But there were no girls that played in the area I lived in; it just wasn’t a thing.
“My mum always said ‘No,’ but I used to go out after his practices and kick field goals better than him. I would say ‘Please let me play’. So, I had never played actual contact Football until I got to the UEL.
“I met Connor and Eddie on the bus to the Stratford campus and they were in football gear. I [said] ‘Oh you have a football team’ because I didn’t think that was a thing in England, and then he said women are allowed to play.
“I went to the first training session and initially there was one other girl that came with me, but she didn’t come to the next one.”
What Were Your Reasons For Coming To The UK?
“I did a city abroad for my college in America when I was rowing and we did a 8-week summer course in Cambridge. I loved it: when I came home, I called my parents and said ‘I’m going to go school in Europe’.”
What Differences Do You Find Between UK And The US?
“Sports in America is definitely taken a thousand times more seriously. I remember the first time we lost, we got back on the bus and everyone was singing and laughing. I was sitting at the front, headphones in and I thought ‘What is wrong with these people? Why are they in a good mood we just lost.’ A bus ride normally when you lose (In the U.S) is a coach screaming at you for two hours until you were home, and if you lost really bad, you’re going straight back into practice.”
You Said You Played D-line And Line-backer But This Year You’re Listed As A Quarterback; How Did That Change Come About?
“The guys on the team are always amazed I can throw really far and I can do everything, but I grew up around it since I was five, so they were shocked I could throw a perfect spiral forty yards, whereas most [of] the guys that have played quarterback never had to learn the mechanics of how to throw a ball because it’s so much different to any kind of rugby or cricket ball. At the end of last year, we didn’t really have a solid quarterback; it was always up in the air. This year, it was kind of the plan (for me to play quarterback) but we didn’t know I had this major shoulder injury. I tore my bicep, my rotator cuff and had bone spurs all over my shoulder that I had to get shaved down.”
When Was The Last Time You Were Able To Get On The Field?
“Our last game was the start of February and I actually played in it because it was before I knew about my shoulder. But I thought ‘If its messed up, its already messed up’ because it was hurting. I thought I’d just play and then after that, everything got cancelled.”
Obviously You’ve Been Injured, But Since COVID-19 Shut Everything Down, Have You Been Able To Do Any Sort Of Training?
“The only time we tried to get stuff done as a team, we went on the courts and tried to do some agility workouts, but it still wasn’t possible. Personally, I couldn’t do any sort of running since the week I came back to London after my surgery. Before that, I couldn’t do anything for about 12 weeks: I had to get help to do everything. But now I’m running and lifting weights, but no actual football training besides throwing the ball around with my nephew.”
Have There Been Any Talk Of The Team Being Able To Return To The Field?
“There was for a little bit when I was first back at UEL [after surgery] and things looked like they were going well [in terms of COVID-19 in the UK], and there were teams that were back training, but we were never able to use a pitch. The only one available had netting at the top so you couldn’t throw the ball. After that, it sounded like the season was going to start in January, but that’s not what is happening now, and since then there’s not been anything about when anything can happen. Uni is currently Tier 4 [COVID-19 status] and I think it had to be Tier 2 for us to return.”
What Are Your Hopes For When You Return After Your Injury?
“My biggest hope is that we get to play. We’re getting close to the year ending. University ends in April so it will be tight for us to finish the season and personally I hope I am ready to go and workout and participate. If I’m not one-hundred-percent, I want to be there as a leader because I know a lot about the sport – so helping with new recruits and explaining how everything works.”
As The Only Female Playing A Male-dominated Sport Have You Had To Overcome Any Form Of Discrimination?
“At UEL, as soon as I walked on and wanted to play they were super welcoming: all the guys were super welcoming. At the beginning, they were definitely scared to touch me so there was a lot of me telling them ‘it’s fine, it’s okay, I’m allowing you to, yes its cool.’ I think it helped that I’m from the states and I know what I’m doing; I don’t think it would’ve been the same if I was just a girl from Europe who thought ‘This looks like fun’ and didn’t know anything. I don’t know if it would’ve gone the same way [although] obviously I would hope it would. Almost every other team we played were pretty respectful, the only team we ever had issues with was Essex. One of their players got kicked out the game because the plays would end and as I’m walking to the huddle he would purposefully hit me from behind, and would trip me or shove me. But this was one of the games we had a female referee, so she flagged him and pulled him to the side, and he just said: ‘I like hitting her because I like a good cheap shot on a girl, it’s easier.’ Then he eventually got pulled out the game.”
Sarah Fuller Was A soccer Player That Became The First Female To Play College Football When She Kicked For Vanderbilt Last Week, Seeing That What Were Your Feelings And Emotions Like?
“When I first saw it, it was breaking news on ESPN, and I was in the car with my mum and I said: ‘This could easily have been me’ messing with her. Anytime there was a girl playing football and was kind of known I would always say you know that could’ve been me.
“I could’ve had a scholarship for kicking a ball you never know. Kickers in the NFL get paid a stupid amount of money, they’re never injured, they play until they’re like forty-five because all they do is kick it, so you never know what you washed down the drain.
“I made that little joke, and I saw [Sarah Fuller] was a goalkeeper and just won the ‘BIG 10’ national championship which is already insane, that’s a massive accomplishment. I was just pretty amazed by it, and it was shown so much attention in the media and Lebron James and Steph Curry tweeted her, and all these massive people were thinking ‘Damn look at her go.’”
Tatum later went on to say she’s feeling close to eighty percent on her return from shoulder surgery. So, hopefully she’ll be back and raring to go whenever the UEL American-football season restarts.
