Shelly Roth has always been passionate about football. Growing up in Wisconsin it would almost have been unnatural had she not formed an attachment to the game in general and the Green Bay Packers in particular.

As an adult, her passion is unabated; she has played five seasons with the Houston Energy of the Women’s Professional Football League.

But as focused as she is on helping her team win another championship (it won three straight from 2000-2002) she is even more committed to helping women’s football become a mainstream sport.

“I’ve always heard ‘Women can’t do this or that,’” she says. “For me it’s always been ‘Yes we can, (football) is just a game and I think we should really encourage more equality in all sports for men and women. I think that’s what really drives me.”

Roth played volleyball and basketball and ran track in high school before heading to Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where she played a season of volleyball before focusing on track. She wound up a Division III All-American in the heptathlon, the high jump and the javelin.

Five years ago she found herself in Houston where she works as a geologist for an oil company. A friend was playing flag football and through her Roth found out about the Energy. She put on a helmet and shoulder pads for the first time in 2000.

As a rookie, Roth played fullback and tight end, but the next season moved to linebacker and she’s been there ever since. “I wanted to play defense from the very beginning,” she says.” In my mind, I don’t think it’s a much different mindset. You have to be aggressive on either side of the ball. It’s more fun to tackle people. But on offense you can be just as aggressive about blocking.”

Like virtually every player in the league, Roth must fit football around her job responsibilities.  At times it’s challenging but Roth, who is childless and works a regular eight-to-five schedule contends it’s easier for her to focus on football when the workday ends, as opposed to some of her teammates.

“I have more time to stay in shape and to study the game,” she says. “I have more energy for that whereas some of the other girls, they have kids or they’re married or their jobs are structured a little bit differently than mine.

“They don’t have that time to commit in the offseason.  So you get to practice and some people are at one level and some people are at another level. For me it’s kind of frustrating, because everybody could be as dedicated and committed as I am but I realize it’s not possible. It’s not a question of peoples’ desire, there are just so many things going on in different people’s lives that makes it more difficult for them to do what they wish they could do.”

Roth has seen the WPFL’s caliber of play improve each season, but feels there’s a chasm between the league’s elite teams and the rest of the pack, a situation not unique to the WPFL but one that retards the growth of the sport as a whole.

“I think it gotten better every year,” she says, “(but) this year) there’s a big divide. You have three or four teams that are really good and there seems to be a bigger dropoff. I haven’t noticed that too much until this year. In the past the Western Division (now the National Conference) has been significantly stronger.”

Roth looks forward to the day when women playing football will be as commonplace as females competing in golf, tennis or any other sport. While that day is likely a ways off, her immediate goal is to see the sport gain acceptance with a cynical sporting public that still isn’t used to seeing a woman catch a pass, throw a block or make a tackle.

“I’m not really driven by just going out and playing,” she says. I’m driven by trying to establish a league, whether it be the WPFL or some other league, whichever one outlasts the others. Proving that women can play and be respected and hopefully lead to the growth of junior high and high school women’s football someday in the future.”