No Lingerie, But Plenty of Football at League Tryouts

The Lingerie Football League came to town on Sunday looking for players, and about 75 St. Louis area women showed up to play at Vetta Sports, in Concord. At least that many were in the stands.

The Lingerie Football League is a women's 7-on-7 tackle football league with franchises currently in 12 cities.

There was no lingerie to be seen.

The women wore sports bras, tank tops, athletic shorts as they ran pass patterns, caught the ball, fought through blocks and hit a tackling dummy on the fly like it wasn’t their first time. Several said they’ve played before.

“I used to play football with my cousin when I was younger,” Tish McMiller, 31, of Florissant, said. “The whole lingerie thing, and catching a ball and running is just a psyche to me.”

“Come in, show up and show off,” McMiller said.

Jelisa Riddlespriger, also of Florissant, said she’s happy women can finally play football.

“Lingerie football is the way to go,” she said. “I’ve played touch football with my boyfriend and his friends sometimes. I played powder-puff, ran track, played basketball. This is what I want to do.”

Any Gamblin, of Shrewsbury, said she used to play with her brother and his buddies.

“I’ve always wanted to play football,” she said.

Evan Zalders, of Belleville, and Bret Morrell, both of Belleville, sat watching their  girlfriends try out.

He said their girlfriends were nervous before the tryouts, but seemed to be having fun.

“It’s a good idea,” Zalders said. “Probably a lot of guys had this idea, just joking around, then some guy said, I’ll do it for real and make a ton of money.”