Woody Cavenaugh

or
Sara and Woody VS the Second Grade

Sara "Tank" Cavenaugh #65 center for the Carolina Phoenix, had a problem. When her niece announced proudly that her aunt played football, several little boys in the class called her a liar, and worse they said that girls can't play football, which was odd because two girls in their class were playing Pop Warner football, and they themselves weren't.

The solution? Drive right down there with full gear and prove once and for all that her niece wasn't lying. The difficulty level was that her niece is four hours away, and Sara herself had only just returned from a 36-0 win over the Detroit Predators. So with four hours of sleep armed with a care package of an info sheet, Phoenix stickers, and little footballs, we went down there to slay the 2nd grade dragon.

How did I get roped into it? Easy, I was offered 20 minutes to talk about my sport fencing, and I had an info sheet, stickers, and Three Musketeers candy at my side to make sure things remained fair.

As a veteran of the traveling road show, I went up first, to warm them up as it were and to add to the anticipation created by a 6ft tall blond bombshell in full pads with a helmet at her side.

The #1 question we both got asked the most, "Why do you wear protection?" It is difficult to explain injury to a Power Rangers generation, but we did our best. When the day was done, the nay sayers apologized for calling Sara's niece a lier, and the Pop Warner league this fall should have a nice influx of both genders.

After nap time, (for Sara and I), we said our goodbyes, and headed four hours back to home base. Mission Accomplished.

As it turns out this story didn't end here. Sara was hit with Romper Room's Revenge, and spent a day home sick. No good deed goes unpunished they say.