The LFL season begins today, Friday, Aug. 26, with Plymouth native Kendra Leigh Ruff.Lingerie and football are about to hit close to home.
This is the first year the state of Minnesota has had an Lingerie Football League and it is what it sounds like.
The LFL is a leauge in which women play arena style football in, you guessed it, lingerie. Lingerie is a word that is being thrown around very loosely by the league, but its allure is working.
In reality, players wear a two-piece swimming suit, shoulder pads, knee pads, elbow pads and helmets.
Plymouth native Kendra Leigh Ruff is one of the players on the roster of the Minnesota Valkyrie. Ruff plays defense and every once in awhile, offense.
Ruff has an athletic past that consist of hockey and Mix Martial Arts. So why join the LFL?
“I really just wanted to get back on a team,” Ruff said. “I used to play hockey and this is the closest thing for women to play at a professional level that has contact”.
Ruff is not afraid of contact, before LFL tryouts, she was 2-0 in the Mix Martial Arts ring.
“I enjoyed MMA, but I’m putting that on hold right now to focus on football,” she said. “I want my team and the coaching staff to know I’m 100 percent committed.”
After months of practice that started in early June, the Valkyrie will play their first game in Green Bay against another new team, the Chill. Unfortunately for Ruff, she will be out due to an injury.
“I hurt my knee a few weeks back," she said. "It hurt and I'm not going to lie. I’m not one to cry, but I almost had to,].”
Ruff said she is performing at about 80 percent right now, but she and her coachdecided it is in my best interest to sit.
With only four games in the LFL season, not getting to play right away has been difficult to face.
“I would love to be out there," she said. It’s the first game ever, but I’d rather play the next three and not risk everything on this game.”
Ruff will make the trip with the team and continue to work hard on rehabilitation for her knee to be back out on the field with her teammates.
“We are playing real football," said teammate Leekplay Paye. "We don’t care that we are wearing lingerie. Come out and watch us play, we are bringing it. This isn’t a sideshow, it’s a real sport and I love my teammates.”
You can catch the game on MTV2 at 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 26. The first home game for the Valkyrie will be Friday, Oct. 14, at the Target Center against defending champions, the L.A. Temptation.
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